{"id":23254,"date":"2020-10-08T18:33:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T10:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-astronaut-chris-ferguson-drops-out-of-first-boeing-starliner-crewed-spaceflight-set-for-2021\/"},"modified":"2020-10-08T18:33:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T10:33:27","slug":"nasa-astronaut-chris-ferguson-drops-out-of-first-boeing-starliner-crewed-spaceflight-set-for-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-astronaut-chris-ferguson-drops-out-of-first-boeing-starliner-crewed-spaceflight-set-for-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson drops out of first Boeing Starliner crewed spaceflight set for 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASA astronaut and veteran Space Shuttle commander Chris Ferguson announced on Wednesday that he will not fly on the first flight of Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft in 2021. Ferguson forfeited his seat on CST-100 (Crew Space Transportation) Starliner due to family obligations on Earth next year. <\/p>\n

Boeing was originally expected to complete its first crewed test flight for NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program sooner than 2021, but a series of missteps led to an unsuccessful mission that required docking to the International Space Station in December 2019. Boeing is expected to re-attempt its uncrewed ISS docking mission with Starliner at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

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Space News <\/em>reports additional details regarding Ferguson\u2019s decision to not fly on the first Starliner spaceflight:<\/p>\n

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In an interview, Ferguson said he decided to step down from the mission because of family obligations. \u201cIt was a decision that was not made lightly,\u201d he said. \u201cIt surrounds what has really amounted to a year that is replete with family obligations that I just do not want to risk missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t elaborate on those obligations, beyond being \u201cthe best kind of family issues.\u201d He noted that, over his career as a NASA astronaut and, before that, a U.S. Navy pilot, he was away from his family and missed key moments. \u201cThe events next year are good ones, and I just don\u2019t want to risk missing them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Boeing has tapped NASA astronaut Barry \u201cButch\u201d Wilmore to replace astronaut Chris Ferguson on the Crew Flight Test mission planned for sometime in 2021 following a successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test mission later this year. <\/p>\n

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