After two major setbacks for the Boeing Starliner, this time it has finally made its way into orbit. The researchers were so anxious due to the last two incidents; hence, they left no stone unturned in the fabrication of this starliner. It has finally been launched on Thursday evening from Cape Canaveral in Florida, thus leaving behind a legacy of a progressive era. However, despite all the efforts, the two thrusters of this star liner didn’t function according to the plan. They were unable to catch fire for about thirty minutes after launching. One of them ignited fire just for a single second, and it then blacked out. But fortunately, the third backup thruster worked well and was competent enough to accompany this CST-100 Starliner into space orbit.
Due to these backup thrusters, the mission was not halted and made up to the expectations of the scientists, but they are curious as to “why we had those anomalies occur in the first place.” Mark Nappi, vice president, and program manager for Boeing’s commercial crew program said during an interview that the system performed just the way it was designed, but they are investigating the anomalies that caused the failures of the two thrusters.
Boeing said that the failure of these thrusters is somewhat related to the Starliner’s thermal control system and added, “This is all part of the learning process for operating the Starliner in orbit.” This mission is termed “Orbital Flight Test – 2 (OFT 2)”, and it was made stronger and more technically advanced after the failure of its previous two missions. However, this is an uncrewed mission and if all goes as planned, Boeing will launch a crewed mission by sending the astronauts to the ISS (International Space Station) and back. Bringing them back is also a very great challenge of its own, which would be experienced on this flight test.
Boeing has collaborated with NASA in this attempt to launch the starliner and is optimistic about its successful return to Earth. According to the reports, this Starliner is now heading towards its targeted point, which it missed at the launch of 2019, and is ready to dock into the ISS.
