BOEING was forced to cancel the launch of its spacecraft on Monday night, just hours before its liftoff to the International Space Station with crew on board for the first time.
The Starliner was supposed to take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 10:34 pm ET, but problems with its oxygen value caused NASA to shut it down.
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Confirming Following the cancellation on X, formerly known as Twitter, NASA said the Starliner was being removed from the launch pad so teams could “evaluate an oxygen relief valve.”
It added that astronauts Butch Wilmore, 61, and Suni Williams, 58, who were supposed to be on board, would not take off.
“Today’s #Starliner launch is paused while teams evaluate an oxygen relief valve on Atlas V’s Centaur Stage. Our astronauts have exited Starliner and will return to crew quarters,” NASA said.
A Mission Control official previously explained in a NASA TV broadcast that: “The engineering team has assessed that the vehicle is not in a configuration where we can proceed with the flight today.”
The flight would be Starliner’s final test before carrying out regular flights for NASA and would have marked a crucial moment for Boeing.
Wilmore and Williams had extensive training with the Navy’s space program and were scheduled to spend just over a week on the ISS with the Starliner.
The pair said it would be like “coming home” as they had both spent months there in the past.
Speaking of a Press conference Following the abrupt cancellation Monday night, Kenneth Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said they will troubleshoot issues and analyze data to decide when it will be safe to launch Starliner again.
A new release date, however, has not yet been confirmed.
HIGHLY AWAITED RELEASE
Starliner intended to undergo testing on the ISS to ensure everything was working properly and then return to Earth.
The Boeing spacecraft was created in collaboration with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
The program aims to make space flights commercial and frequently transport people and cargo from Earth.
“For NASA service missions to the International Space Station, it will carry up to four NASA-sponsored crew members and urgent scientific research,” Boeing said.
The successful launch of Starliner will end up being a major breakthrough moment for Boeing and NASA.
Boeing has been under pressure lately due to several major issues arising with its passenger planes and its success with the Starliner is crucial.
Starliner has also seen its fair share of problems in the past.
Its first uncrewed test flight was in 2019, but the spacecraft was not placed on the correct route and never reached the ISS.
And in 2021 it did not leave the launch pad due to blocked valves.
Starliner finally arrived at the ISS in 2022 without a crew and hoped to bring crew that year, but was unsuccessful.
“There were a number of things that were surprises along the way that we had to overcome,” said Boeing executive Mark Nappi.
“It certainly made the team very strong and very proud of how they overcame all the problems we encountered.
“It is quite typical for a human spaceflight vehicle, from design to human flight, to take a period of about 10 years.”
‘VERY IMPORTANT’
NASA is also eager to have another spacecraft helping bring cargo/crew to and from Space.
Currently, the only spacecraft in operation going to and from the ISS with NASA is SpaceX’s Dragon.
We certainly have some unknowns in this mission, we may find things we don’t expect. But our job now is to remain vigilant and look for problems.
Free Jim
Dana Weigel, NASA’s International Space Station program manager, called having another spacecraft in operation “really important,” Live Science reported.
Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations, called the Starliner Crew Flight test, or CFT, “an absolutely critical milestone” before the canceled event.
However, Free said everyone expected to encounter some problems due to how new it is.
“Let me remind everyone again, this is a new spacecraft,” Free said last week.
“We certainly have some unknowns in this mission, we may find things we don’t expect.
“But our job now is to remain vigilant and look for problems.”
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