Boeing’s spacecraft will one day ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). But due to NASA’s stringent safety rules, it is not as simple as just building a rocket and leasing it to the space agency. Before the CST-100 can take to the skies, Boeing needs to tick off a long checklist of safety tests expected by NASA.
On Monday, November 4, NASA will test Starliner’s ability to safely jettison its astronauts in the unlikely event of a launchpad incident.
The emergency abort test is pencilled in for Monday afternoon at Launch Complex 32 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, US.
NASA’s Danielle Sempsrott said: “This will be Boeing’s first flight test as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help evaluate the performance of the abort system prior to the International Space Station with a crew onboard.”
The test is scheduled to take place during a three-hour window starting at 1pm GMT (9am EDT).
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For the purpose of the abort test, the Starliner will fire its four powerful engines from a resting position.
The engines will push the Starliner upwards and away from the launchpad.
The engines will produce a combined 160,000 pounds of thrust.
NASA and Boeing expect the Starliner capsule to reach a height of about 4,500ft and travel another 7,000ft away from the launchpad.
The capsule will then eject its heat shield about 19 seconds into the flight and expose the Starliner’s parachutes.
Miss Sempsrott said: “Then, drogue parachutes will deploy, prior to the main parachutes, slowing the descent of the vehicle.
In the event of a catastrophic launch pad failure, such as a rocket explosion, the Starliner has to be able to quickly escape from danger.
Rocket manufacturer SpaceX is expected to carry out a similar test of its Crew Dragon capsule in later November or early December.
Both SpaceX and Boeing are working with NASA to return human spaceflight to American soil.
Since the end of the space shuttle programme in 2011, NASA has relied on the Russian Soyuz programme to carry astronauts into orbit.
NASA has dubbed the initiative the Commercial Crew Programme.
The space agency said: “Boeing’s uncrewed flight test will provide valuable data on the end-to-end performance of the rocket, spacecraft, and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking and landing operations.
“The data will be used toward certification of Boeing’s crew transportation system for carrying astronauts to and from the space station.
“NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry through public-private partnerships to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil for the first time since 2011.
“The goal of the program is safe, reliable and cost-effective human space transportation to and from the International Space Station, which could allow for additional research time aboard the station and increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity’s testbed for exploration.”
