Tag: Human Spaceflight
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NASA update on Starliner thruster issues: This is fine
Before clearing Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule to depart the International Space Station and head for Earth, NASA managers want to ensure the spacecraft’s problematic control thrusters can help guide the ship’s two-person crew home. The two astronauts who launched June 5 on the Starliner spacecraft’s first crew test flight agree with the managers, although they…
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NASA orders more tests on Starliner, but says crew isn’t stranded in space
NASA and Boeing officials pushed back Friday on headlines that the commercial Starliner crew capsule is stranded at the International Space Station but said they need more time to analyze data before formally clearing the spacecraft for undocking and reentry. Two NASA astronauts, commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams, will spend at least a…
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Boeing’s Starliner finally soars, but mission control reports more helium leaks
After years of delays, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft finally rocketed into orbit from Florida on Wednesday, sending two veteran NASA astronauts on a long-delayed shakedown cruise to the International Space Station. The Starliner capsule lifted off at 10:52 am EDT (14:52 UTC) on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Fifteen minutes later, after…
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Countdown begins for third try launching Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule
Fresh off repairs at the launch pad in Florida, United Launch Alliance engineers restarted the countdown overnight for the third attempt to send an Atlas V rocket and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on a test flight to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were expected to awake early Wednesday, put on…
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Boeing’s Starliner test flight scrubbed again after hold in final countdown
A computer controlling the Atlas V rocket’s countdown triggered an automatic hold less than four minutes prior to liftoff of Boeing’s commercial Starliner spacecraft Saturday, keeping the crew test flight on the ground at least a few more days. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were already aboard the spacecraft when the countdown stopped…
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Boeing’s Starliner capsule poised for second try at first astronaut flight
NASA and Boeing officials are ready for a second attempt to launch the first crew test flight on the Starliner spacecraft Saturday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Liftoff of Boeing’s Starliner, capsuled atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, is set for 12:25 pm EDT (16:25 UTC). NASA commander Butch Wilmore and…
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Rocket Report: North Korean rocket explosion; launch over Chinese skyline
Welcome to Edition 6.46 of the Rocket Report! It looks like we will be covering the crew test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and the fourth test flight of SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket over the next week. All of this is happening as SpaceX keeps up its cadence of flying multiple Starlink missions per week.…
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The first crew launch of Boeing’s Starliner capsule remains on hold
The first crewed test flight of Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner spacecraft won’t take off as planned Saturday and could face a longer postponement as engineers evaluate a stubborn leak of helium from the capsule’s propulsion system. NASA announced the latest delay of the Starliner test flight late Tuesday. Officials will take more time to consider their…
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Blue Origin resumes human flights to suborbital space, but it wasn’t perfect
More than 60 years after he was denied an opportunity to become America’s first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight finally traveled into space Sunday with five other passengers on a 10-minute flight inside a Blue Origin capsule. Dwight, a retired Air Force captain and test pilot, had a chance to become the first African American astronaut.…
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Rocket Report: Starship stacked; Georgia shuts the door on Spaceport Camden
Welcome to Edition 6.44 of the Rocket Report! Kathy Lueders, general manager of SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility, says the company expects to receive an FAA launch license for the next Starship test flight shortly after Memorial Day. It looks like this rocket could fly in late May or early June, about two-and-a-half months after the…