The uncrewed flight includes a payload of food, provisions and a specialized flight-test dummy
Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test 2 mission to the International Space Station is poised to launch at 6:54 p.m. EDT on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Taking its second ride aboard Starliner will also be a flight test dummy affectionately named Rosie the Rocketeer. Rosie rode aboard the first OFT and provided engineers data about G-force exertion on the body during launch. For this flight, according to a Boeing statement, the same sensors used for Rosie on OFT-1 will be used to measure the strain on the vehicle’s four seats directly.
To date, NASA has completed over 3,000 experiments on the orbital lab, which has hosted rotating astronaut crews continuously since late 2000. These experiments, varying in their size and composition, make up a portion of the cargo regularly transported to, and sometimes back from, the International Space Station.
Speaking on NASA’s “Houston, We Have a Podcast,” Amy Comeau, project engineer for the Boeing Starliner chief engineer’s office, highlighted VESTA as the “main focus” of OFT-2’s goal to dock with the station. She described VESTA’s camera suite, which was designed to differentiate visual features of the space station in the same way a human would:
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
China disputes report that March crash of Boeing 737 was likely intentionalChina said Wednesday that U.S. investigators haven’t released any information about the cause of a China Eastern Airlines jetliner crash after The Wall Street Journal reported its flight data recorder indicated someone pushed the jet into a steep dive.
Read more »
Recovered black box suggests China Eastern Boeing 737 was intentionally crashedData indicates someone in the cockpit pushed the plane into a nosedive, killing all 132 on board, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Read more »
'Boeing management is running around like headless chickens,' Ryanair CEO says in earnings-call tiradeMichael O'Leary, chief executive of Ryanair Holdings Inc., tore into Boeing Co. during an earnings call Monday, blasting the plane-maker's 'very poor...
Read more »
Boeing tries to catch up to SpaceX after plenty of dramaCNN News, delivered. Select from our newsletters below and enter your email to subscribe.
Read more »
Here's when you can watch NASA's exciting Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2NASA is once again planning to complete a Starliner launch to test the capabilities of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Here's how to watch.
Read more »
The Stakes for Boeing’s 2nd Space Mission Are AstronomicalThe company desperately needs a win when it tries again on Thursday to send Starliner to the International Space Station. Here’s how it came to this.
Read more »