Boeing’s Starliner is about to be launched.
NASA and Boeing executives told reporters that the first crewed Starliner mission, which will see the capsule carry two astronauts to the International Space Station, was heading toward its historic May 6 launch date.
NASA and Boeing concluded the capsule was ready for launch after conducting a critical review of the flight tests on Thursday. Barring any problems, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will board Starliner on the evening of May 6 and board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to space.
Approximately 24 hours later, the two astronauts will arrive at the ISS, where they will stay for approximately a week. Starliner will remain docked at the station; the duo will use it to return to Earth. A total of five parachutes will slow Starliner from ultra-fast orbital speeds to allow for a soft landing somewhere in the western United States.
This will be Starliner’s second flight to the ISS: the first, an uncrewed mission called Orbital Flight Test-2, took place in May 2022. If Boeing and NASA fail to meet the May 6 date , there are additional launch opportunities on May 7. , 10 and 11.
The importance of the mission cannot be underestimated. NASA created the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) in 2011 to purchase astronaut transportation services from the private sector; the agency selected SpaceX and NASA in a multibillion-dollar deal. But unlike SpaceX, which completed all six missions of the original contract and more, Boeing’s Starliner was severely delayed by numerous technical problems.
Boeing was hit with more than $1.5 billion in cost overruns due to these delays. The aerospace giant has been hit by a series of other near-disasters in recent times, with the company facing regulatory scrutiny due to problems at its commercial aircraft unit. Earlier this year, it was announced that Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun would step down at the end of 2024.
For NASA, a new spacecraft means doubling U.S. astronaut transportation resources and introducing a much-needed degree of redundancy to the agency’s human spaceflight program. If Boeing passes this test, Starliner will obtain its final certification and can begin regular missions under the CCP contract.
NASA has determined that the probability of crew loss with this Starliner mission is 1 in 295, which is higher than NASA’s required probability of 1 in 270. (A NASA representative did not have equivalent data for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.)
“The lives of our crew members, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, hang in the balance,” said NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free. “We don’t take this lightly at all.”
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