周四下午，波音公司的Starliner成功停靠在国际空间站，标志着美国航天事业的又一个里程碑首次宇航员试飞飞船的。
美国国家航空航天局和波音公司证实Starliner于美国东部时间下午1:34停靠码头。美国国家航空航天局在2007年宣布，美国国家航空航天局宇航员巴里“布奇”威尔莫和苏妮塔“苏妮”威廉姆斯将很快进入国际空间站轨道实验室，在那里他们将度过大约一周的时间社交平台X上的一个帖子
此前氦气泄漏和推进器问题威胁到Starliner的对接。
据报道，星际飞船在前往国际空间站的途中发生了三次氦气泄漏X上的一个帖子周三晚些时候从该机构的约翰逊航天中心发射。
其中一个漏洞“在飞行前与管理计划一起被讨论过。X上的帖子写道:“另外两个是自飞船到达轨道以来的新发现。”
这些泄漏与Starliner计划于5月25日发射时发现的类似。那次发射是少量氦气泄漏后清洗是在服务舱中发现的，服务舱包含用于操作航天器的支持系统和仪器。
据报道，氦被用来给飞船的推进器加压，使其能够点火波音.
目前尚不清楚有多少氦气泄漏，也不知道这是否会影响Starliner的性能和八天后返回地球的能力。
然而，美国国家航空航天局当时说，两个氦气阀门已经关闭，航天器“稳定”。
Starliner原定于美国东部时间周四下午12点15分在国际空间站对接，但在任务控制中心发现帮助飞船推进器机动的反作用控制系统(RCS)喷气出现问题后不得不推迟。
该航天器被置于所谓的“隔离球”之外，这是一个距离国际空间站约200米的边界，直到另一个对接窗口在美国东部时间下午1点33分打开。
威廉姆斯和威尔莫预计将在国际空间站呆上一周，并对Starliner及其系统进行评估。在重返大气层时，飞船将展开降落伞和一个安全气囊系统，在美国西部着陆
如果任务成功，美国国家航空航天局可以认证航天器执行往返于国际空间站的常规任务。美国国家航空航天局主要使用太空探索技术公司的龙飞船向国际空间站运送人员和货物。
Boeing's Starliner successfully docks at ISS after helium leaks, thruster issue
Boeing's Starliner successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday afternoon, marking another milestone in thefirst astronaut-crewed test flightof the spacecraft.
NASA and Boeing confirmed Starliner docked at 1:34 p.m. ET. NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams will soon enter the ISS's orbital laboratory, where they'll spend about a week, NASA said ina post on the social platform X
It comes after helium leaks and a thruster issue threatened to delay Starliner's docking.
Three helium leaks developed as Starliner made its way to the ISS, according toa post on Xfrom the agency's Johnson Space Center late Wednesday.
One of the leaks "was previously discussed before flight along with a management plan. The other two are new since the spacecraft arrived on orbit," the post on X read.
The leaks are similar to those discovered during Starliner's launch attempt that was set for May 25. That launch wasscrubbed after a small helium leakwas found in the service module, which contains support systems and instruments for operating a spacecraft.
Helium is used to used to pressurize the spacecraft's thrusters, allowing them to fire, according toBoeing.
It's currently unclear how much helium is leaking or if it will affect Starliner's performance and ability to return to Earth in eight days.
However, two of the helium valves have been closed and the spacecraft is "stable," NASA said at the time.
Starliner was scheduled to dock at the ISS at 12:15 p.m. ET on Thursday but had to delay after mission control identified an issue with the reaction control system (RCS) jets that help the spacecraft's thruster maneuver.
The spacecraft was held out the so-called "keep out sphere," a boundary about 200 meters away from the ISS, until another docking window opened at 1:33 p.m. ET.
Williams and Wilmore are expected to spend one week aboard the ISS and will be evaluating Starliner and its systems. Upon re-entry, the spacecraft will deploy parachutes and an airbag system, landing the pair in the western U.S.
If the mission is successful, NASA could certify the spacecraft to perform routine missions to and from the ISS. NASA has primarily been using SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to transport crew and cargo to the ISS.
