Posted on 05/21/2022 9:14:49 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The spacecraft made its first connection with the International Space Station's (ISS) Harmony module at 8:28 p.m. EDT.
Boeing said that – in addition to ground controllers in Houston – astronauts on the space station monitored Starliner throughout the flight and sometimes commanded the spacecraft to verify control capabilities.
The Starliner launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:54 p.m. ET on Thursday.
While docked, the crew of the station will float inside the Starliner, conduct an initial cabin tour and periodically perform system checkouts while ground controllers evaluate data gathered during its flight.
According to NASA, Starliner's hatch opening is slated to begin at 11:45 a.m. EDT on Saturday.
Starliner will depart the space station, carrying more than 600 pounds of cargo, on Wednesday, May 25.
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Years behind Space X. It’d be interesting to see and compare costs between the two vehicles.
It would be significant if Boeing had made their own rocket.
Boeing’s effort is essentially a government operation so the costs are naturally a lot higher.
I’ll take Space X over Boing.
Hell , Musks rockets return and land upright. That should count for something.
Thank you
They have.
ULA is owned by Boeing and Lockheed.
It does.
Considerably lower costs.
Atlas ?
A ton of bribes must be paid.
Yes.
Made by ULA which is jointly owned by Boeing and Lockheed.
We need a reserved spaceway for Musks next space adventures: Speed runs approaching warp 1 out to Niribu and back.
Space vehicle development is now verging on being necessary in space itself.There is no room on terra for the really interesting stuff.
Top speed of the Space x heavy lift rocket is 31,471 mph.Thats the Mars mission rocket.
Like all such things, devil in details.
Return flight of astronauts will be into the Atlantic Ocean for SpaceX Dragon, with accompanying costs left out for relevant ships and their crews for recovery.
Starliner returns crews in a Soyuz method, onto the ground at landing sites of White Sands, Edwards etc. Much cheaper.
Sure hope that Boeing remembers to notify their astronauts/passengers about the departure gate & time before the next launch... /s
SpaceX does their own splashdown recovery with their own fleet of ships. The government isn’t responsible except for the USCG enforcement of an exclusion zone.
Yes, it is the reusability that the Space Shuttle was supposed to give us and never did. They have an amazing system. But I can’t help but wonder if they are cutting corners, and it is just a matter of time before it catches up with them. I hope not.
Doesn’t matter. USCG isn’t free, and those SpaceX vessels and crew have to be in the bid, which can be underbid at first.
About the only thing I see in SpaceX favor is Atlas V uses Russian rockets. Actually SpaceX does too, but in an indirect way. Russia builds very good rocket.
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