Boeing's Starliners performed a parachute-assisted landing at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Wednesday, May 25.
The landing marked the end of a successful uncrewed mission to the International Space Station and came nearly 18 months after its first test flight ended in failure.
Boeing captured the key moments from the OFT-2 mission in a short video.
On May 19, #Starliner's launch began #OFT2. After 5 days docked to @Space_Station, Starliner landed safely on May 25. This test gave Expedition 67, @NASA and our teams vital data and cargo for future commercial space exploration. See the mission from launch to landing. pic.twitter.com/gKvJU6K0lg
— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) May 26, 2022
The Starliner's launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida aboard a ULA Atlas V rocket is one of the highlights of the video. Rosie, the sensor-laden mannequin that flew aboard the Starliner to help engineers learn more about the conditions inside the capsule during spaceflight, is shown at the 72 second mark.
Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of the Boeing Commercial Crew Program, said that they had had an excellent flight test of a complex system.
The mission was designed to demonstrate the quality and performance of Boeing's transportation system and should pave the way for Starliner's first crewed test flight this year.
NASA will be able to use the Starliner along with the Crew Dragon for flights to and from the International Space Station once fully certified.
The first attempt to send the Starliner to the International Space Station ended in failure in 2019. The software issues that caused the failed mission were worked on by Boeing and NASA. The second attempt was called off in August of 2021.
The Starliner's earlier problems meant OFT-2 was a high-stakes mission, so it is safe to say that Boeing and NASA will be relieved that this time around.
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