NASA moves forward with first astronaut launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft
Boeing, NASA and United Launch Alliance are targeting Saturday at 12:25 p.m. ET to launch the Atlas V rocket with a Boeing Starliner capsule and NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. The countdown will be the second attempt in less than a month to get the spacecraft and crew into orbit.
NASA astronauts drive to Cape Canaveral launchpad
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are driven to the Cape Canaveral launchpad in the Astrovan II ahead of the first attempt to launch on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. The first try on May 6 ended in a scrub.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – After another delay, NASA said it's ready to launch two astronauts on the final test flight of Boeing's new Starliner spacecraft this weekend.
Boeing, NASA and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are targeting Saturday at 12:25 p.m. ET to launch the Atlas V rocket with a Boeing Starliner capsule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Complex in Florida. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will be the first crew to launch in Starliner on the Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station (ISS).
Weather officers with the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 90% chance of favorable launch weather. The FOX Forecast Center said cumulus clouds in the area could be the primary weather concern.
(FOX Weather)
BOEING STARLINER'S FIRST ATTEMPT TO LAUNCH NASA ASTRONAUTS ENDS IN SCRUB
Wilmore and Williams were in Houston waiting for their ride into space to be ready. The pair arrived back at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday and will remain in quarantine until Saturday's liftoff.
On Thursday, ULA rolled the Atlas V to Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral in preparation for launch.
Multiple delays to the CFT launch
Saturday's countdown will be Boeing and ULA's second attempt in less than a month to get the spacecraft and crew into orbit.
A May 6 countdown ended in a launch scrub after the Atlas V rocket's faulty oxygen relief valve required replacing. However, while the rocket was being repaired, Boeing began troubleshooting a helium leak on the Starliner spacecraft which was located in the spacecraft's service module.
NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said in a call with reporters last week the issue required additional testing for potential impacts on the spacecraft’s propulsion systems.
The rocket and spacecraft issues were unrelated.
The liftoff begins the final test for Boeing's Starliner and marks the final step in certifying the spacecraft to carry NASA astronauts to and from the space station.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams, right, wearing Boeing spacesuits, are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to board the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for the Crew Flight Test launch, Monday, May 6, 2024, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
(NASA)
In 2014, NASA awarded contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to fly astronauts to the ISS with commercial spacecraft. SpaceX began flying NASA astronauts to the space station four years ago.
Starliner was set to launch Williams and Wilmore last summer, but Boeing managers revealed new issues with the spacecraft after further examining data from Starliner's second uncrewed orbital flight test in May 2022.
When it happens, the Starliner will carry the astronauts to the ISS for a week-long test of the new astronaut capsule before returning to Earth, landing in the Southwest desert.