First manned flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is canceled

Climatic or technical problems They can always stop a rocket from launching until the countdown reaches zero, but the forecast for Tuesday’s launch attempt is as good as it gets. Weather officials said there is only a 5% chance of clouds, winds or storms getting in the way.

This mission, nicknamed Crew Flight Test, could be the last major step for NASA to consider Boeing’s spacecraft ready for routine operations as part of the federal agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Starliner would join SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in NASA’s effort to collaborate with private industry partners, expanding the United States’ options for transporting astronauts to the International Space Station.

The mission crew members are veteran astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmorewho have already ventured into space on two previous trips aboard the NASA space shuttle and Russian Soyuz missions.

“They are checking a lot of systems: the life support, the manual control,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during a press conference on Friday (3). “That’s why we put two test pilots on board – and of course Butch and Suni’s CVs are extensive.”

This would mark just the sixth maiden voyage of a manned spacecraft in U.S. history, Nelson noted: “It all started with Mercury, then Gemini, then Apollo, the space shuttle, then (SpaceX’s) Dragon — and now with the Starliner.”

Williams will also become the first woman to participate in this mission.

What to expect

If all goes according to plan after launch, the spacecraft – which carries the astronauts – will separate from the Atlas V rocket after reaching orbit and begin firing its own engines. The Starliner will then spend more than 24 hours heading to the space station.

Williams and Wilmore are expected to spend about a week aboard the orbiting laboratory, joining the seven astronauts and cosmonauts already on board, while the Starliner remains docked outside.

The two will return home aboard the same Starliner capsule, which is expected to parachute to land in one of several designated locations in the southwestern United States.

Boeing x SpaceX

Much depends on a smooth test flight. NASA waited half a decade for the Starliner to begin flying with a crew, and Starliner development was beset by years of delays, setbacks, and blunders. More broadly, Boeing as a company has suffered years of scandals in its aircraft division that have tarnished the legacy aerospace giant’s brand.

“We went through a pretty rigorous process to get here,” Mark Nappi, vice president and manager of Boeing’s Starliner program, said of the development process during Friday’s briefing. “And really where my source of confidence comes from is going through that process.”

If successful, the crew’s test flight could put Boeing in line to begin making routine trips to the space station on NASA’s behalf.

The US space agency selected Boeing to develop the Starliner – along with SpaceX and its Crew Dragon capsule – in 2014, hoping that commercial companies could create new, complementary means of transporting astronauts to the International Space Station after the shuttle program. space was withdrawn in 2011.

SpaceX finally beat Boeing to the launch pad, conducting its crewed flight test of the Crew Dragon capsule in May 2020. SpaceX has handled most of NASA’s crew transportation needs since then.

“We root for SpaceX. This is something very important for our country and very important for NASA to have this access,” Nappi said during a press conference in March. “And we look forward to providing (astronaut transportation services) as well.”