Boeing has shared a video with an idyllic view from the window of its CST-100 Starliner capsule as it flew into space on its recent unmanned test flight.
The footage shows the Earth coming into view and includes an orbital sunset as the spacecraft heads to the International Space Station (ISS) for a short stay. Look closely at the 43-second mark and you will also see an object, either a piece of space rock or a satellite, passing by.
#TopGun pilots aren’t the only ones with #NeedForSpeed! #RosietheRocketeer and Kerbalnaut Jebediah Kerman reached 17,500 mph when #Starliner was orbiting Earth on its way to @Space_Station. Check out the orbit views here. pic.twitter.com/Ac0lj1adzv
– Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) May 28, 2022
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Thursday, May 19, carried into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
The Starliner took Rosie the Rocketeer on the journey, a sensor-equipped dummy that allowed scientists to monitor and evaluate conditions inside the capsule during its key five-day mission.
The spacecraft also carried Jebediah Kerman, a character in the Kerbal space program game, who acted as a zero-gravity indicator of flight.
After leaving 500 pounds of supplies for ISS astronauts, the capsule returned home with a parachute-assisted landing in the New Mexico desert on Wednesday, May 25th.
Engineers are still evaluating all mission data, but initial indications are that it has gone virtually as planned.
Undoubtedly, the spacecraft performed better than on its first flight in 2019, when software problems prevented it from reaching the ISS.
If it is confirmed that the recent mission has been a success, Boeing will work with NASA to organize the first manned flight of the Starliner to the space station, which could take place before the end of this year.
The manned flight will aim to provide a final test of the safety and reliability of the capsule, allowing NASA to use it regularly for astronaut missions to and from the ISS. Currently, the US space agency only has access to one operating capsule: the SpaceX Crew Dragon. The Crew Dragon completed its first astronaut flight in 2020 and is now an integral part of NASA missions in low Earth orbit.
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