International Space Station (ISS) astronauts today began unloading Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner cargo and stowing the materials in their places inside the orbiting laboratory. Although astronauts practiced the work on Earth, they will go through some of the best moving experiences available since the cargo bags weigh nothing on orbit. That gives them the ability to move hundreds of pounds of supplies and equipment without as much exertion as they would have on Earth.
Docked flight test objectives that are now complete include:
- Starliner’s Intravehicular Activity (IVA) hatch opened
- Vestibule pressurized
- Joint ventilation with ISS established
- Docked telemetry paths and file transfers verified
- Vision-based Electro-optical Sensor and Tracking Assembly (VESTA) and flight data files transferred from Starliner to ISS for downlink
- ISS Portable Computer System connected and checked out
- Audio checkouts between Starliner and the ISS, Starliner and Mission Control Center Houston, and Starliner and Boeing’s
- Mission Control Center in Florida conducted
- Starliner Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) from ISS state initialized
- Recharging spacecraft batteries from station’s power
- Starliner Service Module batteries checked out
Flight test objectives in work include:
- Continue the transfer of cargo to and from the ISS
- Develop a plan for a daylight landing
- Conduct pre-undock Starliner systems activation and checkout
- Close Starliner’s IVA hatch
- Depressurize the vestibule