Starliner test flight crew member readies for launch

Tuesday, July 27, 2021: A crash-test dummy called Rosie sits in the commander’s seat of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner space capsule ahead of a test flight to the International Space Station later this week.

The dummy, outfitted with 15 sensors, will help Boeing and NASA understand the mechanical pressures that astronauts will experience during the flight. Rosie was onboard the Starliner capsule already during the first unmanned flight in December 2019, which failed to reach the space station due to software glitches and problems with its communication systems.

Starliner is scheduled to make its second attempt to dock with the space station this weekend. It will launch from Cape Canaveral on Friday (July 30). If all goes well, the spacecraft will start ferrying astronauts to the orbital outpost later this year. — Tereza Pultarova