Boeing Starliner crew aboard the International Space Station after challenging docking
- Thruster trouble almost derailed docking for the Boeing space capsule’s first test flight with astronauts
A Boeing Starliner capsule carrying its first ever astronauts docked with the International Space Station on Thursday after overcoming unexpected challenges arising from thruster malfunctions and helium leaks.
The spaceship dubbed “Calypso” rendezvoused with the orbital lab at 1.34pm ET (1.34am Hong Kong time) over the southern Indian Ocean, allowing cremates Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to enter a while later.
“We’re ready to get to work,” declared Wilmore, while Williams performed a little dance to celebrate the arrival, the third stay aboard the ISS for both of the ex-US Navy test pilots.
Docking was delayed by more than an hour after some of Starliner’s thrusters that provide fine manoeuvring initially failed to kick in, forcing the astronauts to perform a “hot fire” to activate them.
“I would say Starliner made us work a little harder to get docked,” Steve Stich, programme manager for Nasa’s Commercial Crew Programme, later told reporters, explaining that ground teams now had to work to understand the issues that had emerged during flight.
