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The Starliner Space Capsule Launch: First Human-Pair Launch in a Space Shuttle and First Test Flight to the International Space Station
After a series of troubled test flights and ongoing problems with its commercial aviation wing, Boeing is set to launch its Starliner space capsule into orbit on Monday carrying human pilots for the first time.
The latest test flight comes roughly a decade after NASA awarded Boeing a more than $4 billion contract as part of the agency’s effort to pay private companies to help ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, following the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.
Since being awarded a contract by NASA, it has flown nine missions for NASA and four private, crewed spaceflights.
The Starliner failed to reach the I.S.S. during its first mission in 2019 after its onboard clock, which was set incorrectly, caused a computer to fire the capsule’s engines too early. During the second test flight in 2022, the spaceship docked with the I.S.S. even though some of its thrusters failed.
The Starliners first crewed flight was scrapped after company officials realized the tapes used to wrap the wiring were too thin, and the capsule had weak lines connecting it to three parachutes. The launch was delayed indefinitely.
“We are to a state now where we are ready to perform the test flight,” Mark Nappi, Boeing vice president and program manager of the Commercial Crew Program, said during a Friday press conference. I have never felt worse on a mission that I’ve ever participated in.
Two veteran NASA astronauts will fly aboard the Starliners and spend a week at the I.S.S before returning to Earth.
Wilmore said that they didn’t think they would be associated with the first flight of a brand new spaceship. “But we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that.”
The first time Starliner will travel with people on board, the stakes are higher, said Laura Forczyk, executive director of the space consulting firm.
Forczyk said the two-year gap between the Starliner’s last successful test flight and Monday’s planned launch “both gives me confidence, because it means that NASA and Boeing are taking this very seriously, but it also makes me nervous because it has been two years since this vehicle has been operational.”
Whistleblowers have since come forward to detail alleged quality control lapses at the storied company, and the Federal Aviation Administration said it was opening an audit into Boeing’s production. The Alaska Airlines incident will get a criminal investigation from the Justice Department.
The Boeing-NASA Launch: What Comes Beyond the e+e- Appearance: A Return to Boeing’s Flights
The launch is a jointly planned event between Boeing and NASA, and is scheduled for Monday, May 6, at 10:34 pm EDT, 7:34 PDT. You may be able to watch it on a number of different ways. It will be available on NASA’s website, as well as on NASA+, the agency’s subscription service. If you’re on mobile, the stream is also available on the NASA app. You can also watch it right here.
If this mission succeeds without a hitch, it will also likely be a welcome hit of good news for the troubled aviation company. Boeing has drawn a lot of unwanted attention in the last few months as an array of technical deviations on its commercial airline flights have terrified travelers and made headlines. Two of Boeing’s planes crashed within a few months of each other. Boeing is going to write a whole new chapter focused on the future of space travel and trying to regain some public goodwill.
