US Successfully Launches Its First Astronaut Capsule

Boeing launched its first Starliner capsule, which is on a crewless 8-day journey to the International Space Station and after a few days, it will be back. This is also a dry run for NASA, which is planning to end US dependence on Russia for space rides.

The Starliner, which is attached to the summit of a giant Atlas V rocket, took off early in the morning before sunrise at local time (1136 GMT) from Cape Canaveral. 15 minutes later it was separated from the rocket. NASA TV then announced, “Starliner is free flying for the first time in space”.

The main payload of the mission is the bandana clad dummy Rosie, which is named after Rosie the Riveter, the star of a campaign that aimed at recruiting women to munitions factory jobs during the Second World War.

Since the Space Shuttle program of NASA was shuttered in the year 2011, after thirty years in service, NASA has been forced to depend on the Russian Soyuz rockets to transport its astronauts.

The US desperately wanted to end this dependence, but, US Russian space ties have remained unaffected even through the deterioration of bilateral relations in recent years.

Former US President Barack Obama opted for a shift in how NASA operates, instead of owning the hardware, he suggested NASA would hire private companies to take over the role, thus awarding Boeing and SpaceX billions of dollars to develop ‘Made in the USA’ solutions.

Though both the companies are running 2 years behind the schedule but seems they are ready and the approval now rests on the successful completion of final tests.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told at the Kennedy Space Center, “By early next year, we are going to be launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil again for the first time since the retirement of the space shuttles back in 2011”.

SpaceX has successfully carried out its own uncrewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in March this year, when its Crew Dragon docked successfully with the space station and returned to Earth safely.

The recent developments are independent and out of the Artemis program to return to the Moon by 2024, the program is going to use a spaceship, which is built for longer journeys into the space.

Hours after the launch, the Starliner is going to dock autonomously with the space station, which is located at 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the sea level. Rosie is going to return to the Earth, in the southwest US, by December 28.