Boeing’s Starliner carried a ‘Kerbal Space Program’ character to the ISS

After two-and-a-half years of delays, Boeing’s Starliner capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station. It was an important milestone for a company that has, at least in the popular imagination, struggled to catch up with SpaceX. So it’s fitting how Boeing decided it would celebrate a successful mission.

When the crew of the ISS opened the hatch to Starliner, they found a surprise inside the spacecraft. Floating next to Orbital Flight Test-2’s seated test dummy was a plush toy representing Jebediah Kerman, one of four original “Kerbonauts” featured in Kerbal Space Program. Jeb, as he’s better known by the KSP community, served as the flight’s zero-g indicator. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin took a small doll with him on the first-ever human spaceflight, and ever since it has become a tradition for most space crews to carry plush toys with them to make it easy to see when they’ve entered a microgravity environment.

If you’ve ever played Kerbal Space Program, you have a sense of why it was so fitting Boeing decided to send Jeb to space. In KSP, designing spacecraft that will carry your Kerbonauts to orbit and beyond is no easy task. Often your initial designs will fall and crash as they struggle to fly free of Kerbin’s gravity. But you go back to the drawing board and tweak your designs until you find one that works. In a way, that’s exactly what Boeing’s engineers had to do after Starliner’s first test flight in 2019 failed due to a software issue, and its second one was delayed following an unexpected valve problem.

Boeing kept Jeb’s presence on OFT-2 secret until the spacecraft docked with the ISS. A spokesperson for the company told collectSPACE that Starliner’s engineering team chose the mascot in part because of the science, technology, engineering and math lessons KSP has to teach players. Jeb will spend the next few days with the crew of the ISS before they place him back in the spacecraft for its return trip to Earth.

Boeing’s Starliner successfully docks with the ISS despite issues

Boeing’s Starliner has successfully reached and docked with the International Space Station, completing an important step for a crucial test flight that would determine whether it’s ready for crewed missions. The unmanned spacecraft launched on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral and traveled for over 25 hours to reach the orbiting lab. 

Starliner made its first attempt to reach the ISS in December 2019 but failed to achieve its goal due to a software issue that prevented the spacecraft’s thrusters from firing. In August last year, Boeing had to scrap its launch plans due to a problem with the spacecraft’s valves, preventing the company from planning another launch for almost a year. 

While successful, Orbital Flight Test-2 wasn’t without its own issues. As The Washington Post reports, two of its 12 main thrusters failed shortly after launch, and its temperature control system malfunctioned. The docking process was also delayed by over an hour as the ground team ensured that the lighting was ideal and communications were working as intended. There was a problem with the spacecraft’s docking mechanism, as well, and it had to retract the system before extending it a second time. 

Boeing said Starliner’s main thrusters failed due to a drop in pressure in the thruster chamber, but it’s not clear what had caused it. Company vice president Mark Nappi explained that since the thrusters are on the service module that’s discarded during the return flight, Boeing might never find out the exact reason for it. Still, NASA and the company plan to examine the other issues that occurred to understand them and prevent them from happening in the future. 

Starliner will remain docked with the ISS for the next five days before making its return journey, which will see it land in the New Mexico desert. If the spacecraft successfully comes back to Earth, then Boeing could be sending astronauts to orbit as early as this fall.

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Watch Boeing launch a critical Starliner test flight to the ISS

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will once against make an attempt to reach the International Space Station in a critical test flight that will determine whether it’s finally ready for manned missions. NASA and the private space company have scheduled the launch for today, May 19th, with an instantaneous launch window at 6:54PM Eastern Time. The Starliner will launch on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, and you can watch the coverage for the event in the video below or through the NASA Live website starting at 6PM ET.

During its first test flight back in December 2019, Starliner made it into orbit but failed to reach the ISS. An automation system incorrectly assessed the timing of the flight and prevented the spacecraft’s thrusters from firing when needed. NASA and the company investigated what had happened, and reports came out a few months later that Boeing didn’t conduct launch-to-docking simulations on the spacecraft before its failed launch. 

Boeing made its first Orbital Flight Test-2 launch attempt in August 2021, but it had to scrap its plans while the capsule was already on top of a rocket due to an issue with its propulsion system valves. Engineers managed to repair nine valves while the spacecraft was still ready for takeoff, but Boeing ultimately decided to conduct a “deeper-level troubleshooting” at its facility at the Kennedy Space Center. NASA had to give SpaceX more crewed flights in order to cover for Boeing’s delays.

Now that its valve issues have been resolved — apparently, the interaction between oxidizer and water formed nitric acid and other corrosive agents that made the valves sticky — Starliner’s launch is a go. The capsule must achieve its goal this time if Boeing wants to catch up with SpaceX, which has been ferrying astronauts to the ISS since 2020. If no further issues arise, Starliner will reach the ISS with over 800 pounds of cargo in 24 hours. It will remain docked with the orbiting lab for five to 10 days before making its return journey back to Earth and landing in the western United States.