New whip, who this?⁣
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@Boeing’s Starliner pulls into the orbital driveway of the International Space Station (@ISS) carrying two @NASAAstronauts aboard, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. This is the spacecraft’s Crew Flight Test, which is testing the end-to-end capabilities of the spacecraft from liftoff to docking and the return to Earth.⁣

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After successfully launching on June 5 at 10:52 a.m. EDT (1452 UTC), the crew docked to the space station on June 6 at 1:34 p.m. EDT (1734 UTC). This was the first time humans have gone to space aboard a @ULAlaunch Atlas V rocket, and the first time astronauts launched on an Atlas-family class rocket since Gordon Cooper on the last Mercury program flight aboard Faith 7 in May 1963. It’s the same kind of rocket that launched the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers to Mars.⁣
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This is the first time in station history we’ve had three different spacecraft that carried crew to the orbiting lab docked at the same time. Even after more than 25 years of operation, we’re still experiencing so many exciting firsts. ⁣
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Stay tuned to over the next week for broadcast details on the many activities our astronauts will be up to on the orbital lab as they prepare for their return home.⁣
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Image description: Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on NASA’s Crew Flight Test approaches the International Space Station while orbiting 263 miles above Quebec, Canada. The spacecraft contrasts with the blackness of space as it floats above the haze of Earth’s atmosphere.⁣
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Credits: NASA⁣
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#NASA #Boeing #Space #InternationalSpaceStation #ISS #Spacecraft #Starliner