The Boeing Starliner capsule that will fly the company’s Crew Flight Test mission to the International Space Station is shown at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in April 2023.Agency officials said today that NASA is ready to go ahead at last with the first astronaut test launch aboard Boeing"The launch date right now is no earlier than May 1.
"We have primarily been working on getting the vehicle of course ready for flight and solving the two issues that we had back in the summer, which were the parachute system and the tape flammability issue that we had," Nappi told reporters."We can safely say those issues are behind us."Having overcome those setbacks, NASA leadership is now looking forward to Starliner's first crewed mission and the versatility it will provide once operational.
From left, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Barry"Butch" Wilmore, Boeing Crew Flight Test pilot and commander, respectively, during a crew validation test at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 18, 2022. forced a lengthy delay from the July 2023 target launch date. Engineers identified a problem with suspension lines on Starliner's parachutes, and found wiring surrounded by flammable tape, among other problems.
Pending the results of the crewed flight test, the spacecraft could be certified for operational flights as early as November 2024, with the first operational mission —Starliner 1— launching around spring 2025, Stich added.
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