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Boeing's Starliner is prepared for acoustic testing earlier in 2019.
Boeing
The dream is defined: NASA wishes to send astronauts from the United States to the International Space Station, thus ending its dependence on Russian spacecraft and rockets. These astronauts must also return to the ground safely. This is where the parachute tests for the Boeing and SpaceX crew capsules come into play.
On Friday, Boeing shared some behind-the-scenes footage of a successful parachute test for the capsule of his Starliner crew. "It's part of our journey to qualify the entire landing system to fly NASA astronauts," tweeted Boeing Space.
The timing of the tweet is important. SpaceX had the impression of being a step ahead of Boeing since the successful launch of a Crew Dragon test capsule at the International Space Station. Both companies are involved in NASA Commercial Crew Program.
But SpaceX has recently faced setbacks, including the loss of a dragon capsule of the crew due to a mysterious engine anomaly during testing. William Gerstenmaier, of NASA, announced the failure of a Dragon parachute test for the April SpaceX crew at a Subcommittee hearing. the House of Representatives of the House held this week. "The parachutes did not work out as planned," Gerstenmaier said. The cause of failure is still under study.
Boeing said it completed four of the five major parachute tests and achieved all of the test objectives, with the Starliner parachutes running as planned. The company has announced plans to launch and install an unprepared test capsule this summer.
Delays are common for space projects. SpaceX's problems have called into question the timing NASA wants to send humans into space from US soil later this year. This new parachute video seems designed to offer some comfort to Boeing.
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