Achi news desk-
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – The new Starliner spacecraft is “going” for its first-ever astronaut launch on Monday (May 6), Boeing and NASA officials announced today (May 3).
Barring bad weather or any last-minute technical issues, Starliner was approved to send two veteran NASA astronauts and former US Navy test pilots to the International Space Station (ISS). On board this mission, known as Crew Flight Test (CFT), will be commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams.
The duo is completing last-minute training and quarantine items here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of their historic liftoff, scheduled for Mondauy at 10:34 pm EDT (0234 GMT on Tuesday, May 7) from the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The coverage will run live here on Space.com, via NASA Television.
“We had the launch readiness review, and everyone said ‘go’ to move forward,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, during a press conference today.
CFT will not only be the first time a Boeing Starliner will carry astronauts, but also the first time a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket will undertake that task. The stacking rocket will be presented tomorrow (May 4).
Related: I flew the Boeing Starliner spaceship in 4 different simulators. Here’s what I learned (video, photos)
Pending the success of CFT, Boeing will join SpaceX in sending six-month active crewed missions to the ISS. Both companies received commercial crew contracts from NASA in 2014, with Boeing valued at $4.2 billion at the time, compared to SpaceX’s $2.6 billion.
SpaceX has since launched 12 crewed missions to the ISS, including a test flight in 2020, while Starliner’s first crewed effort has been delayed due to several issues. The first flight of the Boeing vehicle to the ISS, launched in December 2019, failed to reach its destination due to technical weaknesses. The pandemic, and the need to address the issues that arose on that first flight, delayed the second uncrewed Starliner test flight until May 2022. That effort was successful, reaching the ISS and meet all its other major objectives.
CFT was then expected to launch in 2023 – until more critical issues emerged, such as problems with the capsule’s main parachutes and flammable tape on the capsule’s wiring. These issues are behind the team, everyone has stressed, and CFT is ready to go. If this first astronaut flight goes well, Starliner’s first operational crewed mission should follow in 2025.
NASA and Boeing teams conducted a flight readiness review for CFT last week. That analysis identified two issues that needed more attention: a new valve needed to be installed in the launch pad, and engineers wanted to further study contingency scenarios for dropping Starliner’s forward heat shield during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
That work has now been completed to the satisfaction of the teams, said Stich today.
Related: 1st Boeing Starliner astronauts ready to launch to ISS for NASA (exclusive)
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Starliner-1, the capsule’s first operational mission, is expected to send three astronauts to the ISS: NASA’s Mike Fincke (who also serves as a CFT backup astronaut), alongside NASA’s Scott Tingle and Space Agency’s Joshua Kutryk Canada.
But that is pending the success of CFT, which will see Williams and Wilmore take manual control of the spacecraft several times, test emergency procedures for power-up and communications, and otherwise put the Starliner spacecraft through her speed for future journeys.
The vision from NASA is that SpaceX’s Dragon, Starliner and the Russian Soyuz spacecraft will continue to send astronaut crews to the ISS for years to come. A selection of NASA astronauts continue to use Soyuz for policy and backup reasons, and Russia is committed to sending crews up until at least 2028.
Although Starliner has not yet been cleared for private missions, Boeing will carry out something like six or seven missions for NASA during the nominal life of the ISS through 2030. There are a handful of private space stations in the works, so perhaps the there will still be destinations for Starliner, Dragon and Soyuz after the ISS retires.
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