NASA launch Boeing CST-100 Starliner
SpaceX and Boeing have been selected by NASA to build, test and launch a new generation of orbital spacecraft under the Commercial Crew Program. Elon Musk’s, 49, company was the first to reach the finish line with the launch of Crew Dragon Demo-2 in May last year, followed by the first operational flight in November. Crew Dragon became the first American-built spacecraft since the Space Shuttle’s 2011 retirement to fly US astronauts into orbit from US soil.
The historic launch marked a major accomplishment for SpaceX, particularly since Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule has not yet completed its orbital testing phase.
It comes, therefore, as no surprise that Boeing has caught the ire of SpaceX fans yesterday when the official Boeing Space Twitter account mistakenly shared a photo taken inside of the SpaceX Crew Dragon.
In a tweet that has since been deleted, Boeing shared a photo taken by astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley during the return of SpaceX’s Demo-2 flight.
The image features a view of Kazakhstan through one of Crew Dragon’s portholes.
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The tweet read: “Our perspective from @Space_Station has inspired #sustainability efforts on Earth.
“From the station’s smaller, more efficient solar arrays to its global humanitarian applications, see how discoveries on-orbit help us innovate for a better tomorrow:”
The tweet also included a link to the sustainability page on Boeing’s website.
Boeing Space has since deleted the original tweet and posted a new one with the same message but with a photo taken from inside of the International Space Station’s (ISS’s) Cupola Module.
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And although the tweet appears to have been a genuine mistake by Boeing Space, some SpaceX fans have rallied on social media.
One user of the /r/spacexmasterrace forum on Reddit said: “Yiiikes. Too late, damage done. On the internet, nothing is ever really gone.”
Another person said: “Probably just a social media intern not reading the image description properly.
“It’s not like the Boeing CEO is sitting on his computer, maliciously rubbing his hands together as he uploads a SpaceX image pretending it’s his own.”
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A Twitter user also said: “Like the rest of us, Boeing’s view of Earth is made possible through the sheer hard work, tremendous effort, and excellent design of the SpaceX Crew Dragon.”
Despite the social media mishap, Boeing is on track to send its Starliner into space this March.
Boeing and NASA are targetting no earlier than March 25 for Starliner’s second uncrewed test flight.
Boeing’s last attempt at orbital flight in December 2019 did not go according to plan due to the onboard clock sending burning the capsule’s engines into the wrong orbit.
The second attempt, dubbed Orbital Flight Test-2 (OTF-2), will launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Starliner will be carried on top of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.
The spacecraft will rendezvous and dock to the space station and return to Earth a week later.
Boeing’s first crewed mission will see NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann and Boeing astronaut Chis Ferguson fly the spacecraft.
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