{"id":17196,"date":"2024-06-05T17:08:27","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T09:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/third-times-the-charm-boeings-starliner-capsule-begins-first-crewed-space-mission\/"},"modified":"2024-06-05T17:08:27","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T09:08:27","slug":"third-times-the-charm-boeings-starliner-capsule-begins-first-crewed-space-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/third-times-the-charm-boeings-starliner-capsule-begins-first-crewed-space-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Third time\u2019s the charm! Boeing\u2019s Starliner capsule begins first crewed space mission"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"418\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/240605-starliner2-630x418.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-825942\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/240605-starliner2-630x418.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/240605-starliner2-1260x836.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/240605-starliner2-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/240605-starliner2.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas V rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad, sending Boeing\u2019s Starliner capsule and its crew of two astronauts to the International Space Station. (NASA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Two NASA astronauts were sent into space today to begin the first crewed flight of Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft, making a shakedown cruise to the International Space Station and back after years of costly setbacks and two scrubbed countdowns.<\/p>\n<p>United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas V rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 a.m. ET (7:52 a.m. PT), sending Starliner and its crew \u2014 NASA\u2019s Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams \u2014 to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s get going,\u201d Wilmore told Mission Control just before launch. \u201cLet\u2019s put some fire in this rocket.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Atlas V rose smoothly into a mostly sunny sky, and within minutes, the gumdrop-shaped capsule separated from the rocket\u2019s Centaur upper stage to continue its rise to orbit. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo bold NASA astronauts are well on their way on this historic first test flight of a brand-new spacecraft,\u201d NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a post-launch statement. \u201cBoeing\u2019s Starliner marks a new chapter of American exploration. Human spaceflight is a daring task \u2013 but that\u2019s why it\u2019s worth doing. It\u2019s an exciting time for NASA, our commercial partners and the future of exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CFT Starliner launch\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_hr069XLAWQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Boeing\u2019s effort to get Starliner ready to carry astronauts has suffered through a string of delays and roughly $1.5 billion in cost overruns (which Boeing has had to cover under the terms of its decade-old $4.2 billion fixed-price contract with NASA).<\/p>\n<p>Two earlier attempts over the past month to launch this Crew Flight Test, or CFT, were due to problems with the Atlas V launch system rather than with Starliner. The first attempt was called off on May 6, two hours before liftoff, due to concerns about a valve on the Atlas V\u2019s Centaur upper stage. The second try was scrubbed on June 1, with less than four minutes left in the countdown, when an alarm was triggered due to a faulty power supply in one of the launch control computers.<\/p>\n<p>United Launch Alliance\u2019s team replaced the hardware and verified that the system was \u201cgood to go,\u201d in the words of the company\u2019s CEO, Tory Bruno. ULA, Boeing and NASA then gave the go-ahead for today\u2019s countdown. \u201cAs you might imagine, there\u2019s lots of pressure to just go,\u201d Bruno said in a posting to the X social-media platform. \u201cBut that\u2019s not what we\u2019re here for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Starliner had previously been through two uncrewed flight tests \u2014 an initial test that fell short of full success in 2019, and a do-over that reached the space station and met its objectives in 2022. This is the first time Starliner has carried actual astronauts rather than test dummies. This was also the first time an Atlas V launched a spacecraft with a crew.<\/p>\n<p>CFT\u2019s main objective is to have the crew verify that all of Starliner\u2019s systems work as expected. They\u2019ll run through tests during the 25-hour cruise to the International Space Station, and during what\u2019s envisioned as an eight-day stay aboard the station. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re going to test this thing from izzard to gizzard,\u201d Nelson said at a briefing.<\/p>\n<p>Wilmore and Williams will also deliver about 800 pounds of mementos, supplies and equipment, including a replacement pump for the station\u2019s urine-recycling system.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of their orbital stay, Wilmore and Williams will climb back into their reusable Starliner capsule \u2014 which has been christened Calypso, in honor of the ship used by the late ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau. Then they\u2019ll descend to a parachute-aided, airbag-cushioned touchdown in the western U.S., with the precise landing site to be determined by the timing of their departure.<\/p>\n<p>When CFT is finished, NASA and its partners will evaluate Starliner\u2019s performance and make adjustments in the design or procedures as necessary. In the months ahead, NASA is aiming to have Starliner certified so that it can take its place alongside SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon as a commercial \u201cspace taxi\u201d for ferrying astronauts and supplies to and from orbit on a regular basis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to seeing two U.S. vehicles at the International Space Station,\u201d Ken Bowersox, NASA\u2019s associate administrator for space operations, said at today\u2019s post-launch briefing. \u201cI know Butch and Suni will probably get a kick out of that, if they get a chance to look out the windows and see a Dragon there, see a Starliner there. It\u2019s something that I think all of us should be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas V rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad, sending Boeing\u2019s Starliner capsule and its crew of two astronauts to the International Space Station. (NASA via YouTube) Two NASA astronauts were sent into space today to begin the first crewed flight of Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft, making a shakedown cruise to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[670,717,190,1306,750],"class_list":["post-17196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-boeing","tag-international-space-station","tag-nasa","tag-starliner","tag-united-launch-alliance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17196\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}