Before the arrival of the “Starliner” planned for Wednesday, the “Dragon” capsule, which is currently docked at the International Space Station (ISS), had to make room. The NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps as well as the cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin first undocked the capsule from the ISS, after which it then independently reconnected to the station at another docking point, as NASA announced.
It was the 28th such relocation operation in the history of the ISS and the fourth with a “Dragon” capsule, it said. Dominick, Barratt, Epps and Grebenkin – the so-called “Crew 8” – arrived at the ISS in March with the “Crew Dragon” and are scheduled to fly it back to Earth in the fall.
First of all, next Wednesday, the crisis-plagued spaceship “Starliner” is scheduled to arrive at the ISS manned for the first time – and that needs the docking station that the “Dragon” previously occupied. NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams are scheduled to set off on the Starliner’s first manned test flight early next week.
The “Starliner,” developed and built by Boeing, completed a successful unmanned flight to the ISS for the first time in May 2022 and spent four days there. In the future, it will transport astronauts to the ISS as an alternative to SpaceX’s “Crew Dragon” capsule. However, due to a number of problems, the project is well behind schedule.
