Washington (AFP)
Boeing passed the emergency ejection test for its Starliner space capsule on Monday, which is expected to transport American astronauts to the International Space Station in the near future, perhaps as early as 2020 if the next tests are going well.
The test lasted about 95 seconds and took place at the desert military base of White Sands in New Mexico.
The capsule was fixed on a small launch pitch, then the four emergency engines ignited, simulating an emergency where the capsule, attached to the top of a rocket, would absolutely have to separate in order to bring the astronauts back security on Earth.
At the moment, the four engines stared Starliner at full speed to the sky. After 20 seconds, the Starliner parachutes deployed.
Then Starliner went down again, so slowed down, the landing in the desert being cushioned by big airbags.
"The initial indications are that the ejection test is a success," Boeing's video commentary Jessica Landa commented.
Boeing is one of two companies, with SpaceX, chosen by NASA to build ships that will connect the Earth to the ISS. Since the end of US space shuttles in 2011, only the Russians have the ability to do so, with the Soyuz system.
Boeing is planning a full-size launch of Starliner to the ISS, empty, December 17, as SpaceX did with its Crew Dragon capsule in March.
As for the first launches with humans on board, they should intervene in 2020, according to NASA, but this schedule is conditional on the success of multiple tests still planned on the ground. SpaceX, in particular, has yet to finalize the parachute tests of its ship.
© 2019 AFP