They also improved the valves and added nitrogen purges to keep atmospheric humidity out of the propulsion system. Starliner is one of two spacecraft NASA has hired to ferry astronauts to and form low-Earth orbit, with the other being SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, as part of the agency's commercial crew program.Īfter the aborted test in 2019 because of anomalies with the spacecraft and its software, Boeing spent more than a year tweaking the spacecraft and making sure all of its systems were working as expected.Ī second launch attempt was scheduled for last summer, but was ultimately postponed due to a valve issue that cropped up while the craft was on the launch pad.Įngineers spent several months troubleshooting the valve issue before they decided to swap out Starliner's service module for a new one with a brand new propulsion system and set of valves.
NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines also tested the craft's communications system with the ISS, in addition to unloading more than 500 pounds of supplies and then reloading Starliner with about 600 pounds of research and other cargo to take back to Earth.
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