Ride aboard Boeing's Starliner astronaut taxi as it returns to Earth in this video

We now have a better idea of what spaceflight looks like thanks to Boeing's new astronaut cab. Fresh footage from Boeing's uncrewed Starliner test mission in May shows numerous perspectives of the spacecraft coming in for a landing at the end of Orbital Test Flight-2, which traveled to and from the International Space Station. The footage, which was published on YouTube, has up to four cameras filming Starliner's last flying minutes on May 25.

An internal view with a mannequin, a view out the window, and two ground cameras offer engineers several viewpoints on the landing endeavor in the New Mexico desert.

In contrast to competitor SpaceX, which employs ocean landings, Boeing officials noted in a description to the YouTube video that Starliner arrives in the desert rather than splashing down in the water, a first for an orbital capsule produced in the United States. The proven parachute and airbag systems of [Starliner] enable a smooth landing on the beach, lessening the pressure on the crew. Passengers may step immediately out of the spaceship onto solid land because sea state issues like wave height, swells, currents, and surface winds are not present.

The engineering data will be critical in ensuring that the Starliner is ready for further astronaut flights. Boeing and NASA are analyzing data from the test flight to see how successfully the corporation met the objectives. According to previous remarks from Boeing and NASA, this procedure is scheduled to be completed in the following months, and Boeing intends to launch its first crewed space trip in February 2023, a three-month delay due to correcting certain difficulties with the test flight.

Boeing has a commercial crew deal with NASA to launch at least six trips to the orbiting complex before the intergovernmental cooperation expires in 2030. However, other partners have not yet agreed to extend the ISS framework, which is set to expire in 2024. (Russia intends to depart after 2024 to construct its own space station.)

SpaceX, the other commercial crew mission provider, has been transporting humans to the ISS since 2020. NASA has authorized SpaceX additional ISS trips, stating that the Hawthorne, California-based business is currently the only one qualified to carry humans into orbit from American soil.

A number of crewed space flights continue to depart from Russia, which supplies Soyuz trips to the ISS. However, in the aftermath of Russia's widely condemned invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, NASA is pursuing the majority of its space missions autonomously. The governments have frequently stated that human spaceflight activities between the US and Russia are regular, notwithstanding the termination of other space accords.