Good Monday morning, friends. It’s your Space Coast correspondent James Sparvero, rejoining you with the latest on getting two astronauts out of space and back on Earth following the problematic Starliner test flight that’s becoming a mission of months instead of just weeks.
Over the weekend, Boeing reports it fired up 27 thrusters on the troubled spaceship as it was docked to the International Space Station and with crew members Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the capsule. This hot fire test was laid out to us in a plan from NASA and Boeing during our most recent press conference last week.
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In addition to getting a closer look at its problems with the thrusters that failed as Butch and Suni flew to the space station between June 5 and 6, Boeing says the test also gave them a chance to be sure no more helium was leaking (or if it was, that is was still within their safety margins).
A news release reads the thrusters performed great and helium was stable too.
“The integrated teams between Starliner and ISS worked extremely well together this week to finalize and safely execute the docked hot fire sequence,” the update said. “Both teams were very happy with the results.”
So it seems there may finally be light at the end of the tunnel.
Next, Boeing says Butch and Suni will practice undocking and splashdown in simulations. There’s still no return date just yet, but with NASA scheduling Crew-9′s launch as soon as Aug. 18, I wonder if our heroes could possibly come home safely before then.
We’ll be back with you when we know.
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👋 Here’s a little bit more about me.
Little did I know when watching Apollo 13 in the third grade that 20 years later, I was destined for a thrilling career as your Space Coast multimedia journalist.
Chemistry and biology weren’t so interesting to me in high school science, but I loved my Earth and Space class (Thanks, Mr. Lang).
Then in 2016, I traded Capitol correspondent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for space correspondent. I’m proud that my first live report at News 6 happened to be the first time SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 booster on a barge. What seems so routine now was a really big deal that day in our newsroom!
From there, I’ve covered the Commercial Crew program and the return of human spaceflight to Kennedy Space Center (Demo-2 launched on my 33rd birthday!)
Now, as our coverage looks forward to missions to the moon and Mars, I often tell others I have the best job in local news. Because after all I’ve seen so far, I think I would be bored working somewhere else. I even bought a house near the Cape with a great view to the north so I never miss a launch even when I’m not working.
After eight years on the beat, though, I still consider myself a young space reporter and I always look forward to learning something new with every assignment.
Have a great launch into the rest of your week!