Last week, the International Space Station (ISS) is making major changes to facilitate Boeing's Starliner Crewed Test Flight (CFT). These changes involve rearranging the docking ports, with SpaceX Dragon spacecraft playing a crucial role in reorganizing the ISS setup to make room for Starliner’s upcoming mission.
SpaceX Dragon Undocks and Clears the Path
Over the weekend, SpaceX undocked and returned the CRS-30 Cargo Dragon from the space-facing port of the ISS's Harmony Module. The CRS-30 Cargo Dragon had been on the station since March 23, delivering over 4,29,702.21 INR of scientific research and experiments. After undocking, it splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico, carrying back various scientific results, including seven miles of optical fiber produced in space, which is expected to have superior qualities compared to Earth-made fiber.
Following CRS-30's return to Earth, attention shifted to Crew-8’s Dragon, which is set to resettle to make space for Starliner. Crew-8 will suit up and perform an automated undocking and redocking to the Harmony Module's space-facing port, the one previously used by CRS-30. This strategic move is essential because it leaves the forward docking port available for Starliner's autonomous docking currently the only port Starliner is qualified to use.
Boeing Starliner Prepares for Crewed Flight Test
Meanwhile on Earth, preparations for Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight are in full swing. The mission, scheduled for Monday, May 6, will launch from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41). The crew NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived last week in NASA's iconic T-38 jets, Marking the start of their final training and launch setup.
Over the weekend, Wilmore and Williams participated in a dress rehearsal with NASA staff, Boeing, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) at SLC-41. The rehearsal simulated the entire countdown sequence, with the only step missing being the actual liftoff. NASA has signed off on the launch readiness review, indicating that Boeing and ULA are now in charge of conducting the mission’s final preparations, including strapping the astronauts into Starliner and managing the Atlas V rocket’s launch sequence.
Anticipation Builds for Starliner’s Crewed Test Flight
As the space community eagerly awaits Starliner's first crewed flight, it will be interesting to observe how Boeing and ULA handle the launch compared to SpaceX's methods. The Starliner CFT is a significant milestone for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, offering an alternative to SpaceX's Crew Dragon for transporting astronauts to and from the ISS. With the ISS now configured to support Starliner, all eyes are on the skies as we look forward to a successful launch on Monday, May 6.
