I turned on the news this morning to something unexpected—and delightful. The launch of Boeing’s Starliner, heading for the International Space Station. And I got tears in my eyes seeing it leave Earth, the blues and greens of our planet photographed from a distance, as my protagonist Rowan Layne surely did the first time she traveled into outer space to reach Earth’s moon in Aliens Abound.
I frequently write about fantastical space launches in my Other Worldly novels, including the most recently drafted Aliens Watch, seventh in the series wherein Rowan will travel to Saturn and several of its moons. But watching the reality of Starliner headed into space was an especially emotional experience, knowing it could eventually be used to travel to Mars.
Also, this flight was historic for several reasons. It marks the first launch of an Atlas 5 with astronauts onboard and the first for the Atlas family of rockets since astronaut Gordon Cooper took off on the Mercury program’s final flight 61 years ago. It’s also the first piloted flight of the Starliner.
But most important for me (and Rowan Layne) was this Crew Flight Test, as it’s called, makes history with the first woman to fly on such a mission.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today, June 5, in its third attempt to get Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner crew capsule into orbit for its first piloted test flight with NASA commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams, both former Navy test pilots. I especially love the Navy part.
Liftoff occurred at 10:52 am EST, roughly the moment Earth’s rotation carries the pad into alignment with the space station’s orbit—a requirement for rendezvous missions. In less than 25 hours, Wilmore and Williams (Rowan would love that their names begin with the same three letters) will arrive at their destination in space where they remain, if all goes well, until June 24 when they will return to Earth.
One other fun tidbit is the Starliner is named Calypso in honor of Jacques Cousteau. An ocean explorer known for his extensive undersea investigations using his specially designed ship, Calypso. Uncanny, because Rowan’s space exploration in both last year’s Altogether Alien and the upcoming Aliens Watch involve underwater travel.
For their mission, astronauts Wilmore and Williams will spend eight days living in the orbiting laboratory, joining seven astronauts and cosmonauts already onboard the space station. They will test Starliner capabilities including thruster performance, how their spacesuits function within the capsule, and manual piloting if the crew needs to override the spacecraft’s autopilot.
They will also test Starliner’s “safe haven,” capability, designed to offer the crew sanctuary if there’s a problem. A pickle of a problem that wasn’t covered on TV this morning tickled my funny bone due to one of Rowan’s frequently referenced rubbers stamps used for paper crafting that says, “Never pass up an opportunity to pee.”
Aboard Starliner is a crucial pump needed to fix the space station’s urine processor assembly, which failed May 29. Yikes. It processes the crew’s urine as the first step of a water recovery system, eventually turning it into drinking water.
The pump being delivered by Starliner is much anticipated because right now, urine is being stored in onboard containers. A mundane, all-too human reality despite the wonders of modern science that now enable us to travel into outer space and reach our destination in 24 hours.
And perhaps one of the most progressive things about Starliner in addition to its first female astronaut participating in this particular mission, is that the spaceship is reusable, and could travel into space as many as ten times.
When they head home, Wilmore and Williams will be in the same Starliner capsule. They will parachute from it to a desert landing in the southwestern US, with several designated locations. If this were part of one of my Other Worldly novels, it would surely land in Nevada near Vegas. Because Starliner makes me feel as if we are one step closer to making my literary fantasy world a reality.