Two experienced astronauts flew to Kennedy Space Center on Thursday afternoon to prepare for the first piloted launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, a long-awaited flight for years. behind schedule after two uncrewed test flights and comprehensive studies to solve various technical problems.
Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita WilliamsTwo of NASA’s most experienced astronauts, who have completed four previous spaceflights, 11 spacewalks and 500 days in orbit between those dates, rode T-38 jet trainers to the spaceport’s 3-mile-long flight after a flight from Johnson Space Center in Houston. landed on the runway.
“We love Florida. We love Kennedy Space Center, because that’s where you launch people into space,” an enthusiastic Wilmore told reporters on the runway. “In less than two weeks, we’ll be lying on our backs and taking to the skies on our next flight.”
He said completion of Starliner’s Crew Test Flight, or CFT, “will expand (NASA’s) ability to fly to and from the space station, and that’s vital.” “We’re excited to be here.”
Williams said: “This is where the rubber meets the road, this is where we’re going to leave this planet and it’s pretty amazing!”
A few hours after the crew arrived and shortly after two Russian cosmonauts completed a four-hour-36-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station, mission managers completed a two-day flight readiness review and tentatively cleared the Starliner for launch on Joint Launch. Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on Monday, May 6 at 10:34 PM EDT.
If everything goes well, Wilmore and WilliamsBoth former Navy test pilots, they will dock at the space station on May 8 and return to Earth on or shortly after May 15. If the mission goes well, NASA plans to begin Starliner crew rotation flights with rotating crew launches with SpaceX in 2025.
“Today was a big day for our Commercial Crew Program,” said Steve Stich, NASA CCP administrator. “All (international) partners and then our entire team exercised the ‘go’ option to proceed with the launch on May 6. Not only that, but we (signed) what we call the provisional human rating for Starliner for this crewed flight test.” .. It was a huge deal for NASA and our entire team.”
NASA awarded two Commercial Crew Program contracts in 2014, one to SpaceX worth $2.6 billion and the other to Boeing worth $4.2 billion, to encourage the development of autonomous spacecraft that could take astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
The goal was to end reliance on Russia’s Soyuz following the retirement of the space shuttle and to continue launching American astronauts from U.S. soil on American rockets and spacecraft. Equally important for NASA is that the crew has two independent spacecraft for flights to the ISS in case a company’s ferry ship becomes stranded for any reason.
SpaceX began piloted flights in May 2020 and successfully launched two NASA astronauts to the space station on a Crew Dragon test flight. Since then, SpaceX has sent 50 astronauts, cosmonauts and civilians into orbit on eight operational flights to the laboratory complex, three commercial visits and one privately funded flight to low Earth orbit.
Boeing launched Starliner pilotless test flight In December 2019, however, the spacecraft experienced major software and communications problems that derailed an attempt to dock with the space station and nearly led to the destruction of the crew ship.
A. flight without co-pilot The order was placed (and paid for by Boeing), but during the launch window in August 2021, engineers discovered worn valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system. Resolving this issue postponed the second test flight to May 2022.
Although the mission was successful, additional problems were discovered, including parachute problems and concerns about possibly flammable protective tape wrapped around internal cables. Correcting these problems and finding room for the visit in the space station’s complex flight schedule eventually postponed the Crew Flight Test to May 6.
given latest problems Question marks arose about Boeing planes and the company’s situation security cultureA successful Crew Flight Test is viewed by many as a critical milestone for both Boeing and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Wilmore, however, said he did not view the Starliner launch in the context of Boeing’s widely reported aircraft problems.
“I don’t think this has anything to do with Boeing and a plane taking off,” he said. “They’re all vital. This is human spaceflight. That adage you’ve been hearing since Apollo 13, isn’t failure an option? This has nothing to do with Boeing or this program specifically. It’s all human beings do.” space flight.
“So this is no more or less important than the other things we do,” he said. “That’s the most important thing we’re doing right now.”
Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Starliner program manager, agreed, saying “the success of this mission as a program has always been very important to us for many reasons.”
“First, we have people flying in this vehicle,” he said. “We take this very seriously in human spaceflight. I’ve spent my career in this business and it’s always been at the top of the list.
“Second, this is an important capability for us, for NASA, and that’s what we signed up to do, and we’ll do it, and we’ll be successful at it. So I don’t think of it this way: What’s important to this program as much as what’s important to Boeing, what’s important to pursue.” “It is also important in terms of the commitments we make to our customers.”
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