Boeing tests the Starliner spacecraft

U.S. Boeing Group announced on November 4 that it had successfully tested the Starliner - expected to be a vehicle for bringing American astronauts to the International Space Station.

The test took place in the New Mexico desert and lasted about 95 seconds. The Starliner is mounted on a small launcher with four engines to simulate an emergency situation, in which the ship is mounted on top of the rocket, which needs to be quickly separated to bring the astronauts safely back to Earth. .

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft was launched in New Mexico desert on November 4, 2019.(Photo: AFP / TTXVN).

During the test, four launchers' engines were activated and launched Starliner into the sky at full speed. After 20 seconds, only 2 of the 3 main parachutes exploded. The spacecraft gently lowered its altitude and landed in the desert in an area with large airbags.

In a preliminary evaluation report, John Mulholland, who is in charge of the Starliner spacecraft project, affirmed that "the testing team and the spacecraft have done perfectly" their mission. The US space and space agency's (NASA) statement also said that only two of the three parachutes in operation were "acceptable to the crew test and safety parameters". . Boeing, meanwhile, admits there was a "deployment anomaly . it is still too early to determine why all three of the main parachutes are not working together."

Boeing is currently working with SpaceX and NASA to research and build a spacecraft to send astronauts to ISS. Since the American Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, only Russia with the Soyuz system is capable of traveling from Earth to ISS. Boeing is planning to launch the Starliner spacecraft on ISS on December 17, in the context that SpaceX has made this journey with the space shuttle Crew Dragon in March.

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