November 22, 2024

NASA and Boeing Prep Starliner and Atlas V Rocket Prep for Historic ISS Journey

By NASA April 18, 2024Boeings Starliner spacecraft, predestined to carry two NASA astronauts to the ISS, will quickly move from NASAs Kennedy Space Center to Cape Canaveral for its scheduled launch on May 6. Credit: NASANASA is preparing for a crewed flight test of the Starliner spacecraft, which will transfer astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station for a week-long mission.The spacecraft set to carry 2 NASA astronauts on the companys Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station (ISS) is ready to move from its production center to the launch website. Boeings Starliner spacecraft will present of the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 16, to the Vertical Integration Facility at neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to link to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Floridas Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 4, 2022. Credit: NASA/Frank MichauxThe crewed flight test is targeting launch no earlier than 10:34 p.m. Monday, May 6 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will fly aboard Starliner and will dock at the spaceport stations forward port of the Harmony module. The duo will spend about a week at the orbiting lab before Starliner makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.After successful conclusion of the objective, NASA will start the last process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the spaceport station. The Starliner pill, with a diameter of 15 feet (4.56 m) and the capability to guide immediately or by hand, will bring 4 astronauts, or a mix of team and cargo, for NASA objectives to low Earth orbit.