Boeing's crewed space capsule Starliner has now docked at the International Space Station ISS. However, the journey was not trouble-free.
It took three attempts before the launch of Boeing's Starliner was successful. Now astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have finally arrived at ISS – after a journey plagued by problems.
The trouble started even before launch with a small helium leak, something that according to Boeing and NASA would not affect the journey. But just hours after launch, two more leaks occurred, and a fourth was found later after docking.
Helium is used to pressurize the fuel lines in the booster rockets, which are important for being able to maneuver the spacecraft.
In addition, five of the spacecraft's 28 booster rockets failed. Williams and Wilmore managed to restart four of them, which gave enough safety margin to continue. By then, Starliner had missed the first docking opportunity and had to circle around ISS for an extra hour.
The two space travelers then danced onto ISS to music and hugged the seven astronauts who were on the space station.
According to Boeing, there will be enough helium for Starliner to return home safely in about a week.
