They postpone launch
The launch was postponed about two hours before liftoff after a new safety issue was identified, officials said Monday. This was confirmed by ULA launch director Tom Heter III, who informed the launch team that launch operations will not continue tonight.
“Giving up on tonight’s launch attempt,” NASA chief Bill Nelson tweeted. “As I said before, @NASA’s first priority is safety. We will leave when we are ready.”
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Standing down on tonight’s attempt to launch #Starliner. As I’ve said before, @POT‘s first priority is safety. We go when we’re ready. https://t.co/KIasomZG66
— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) https://twitter.com/SenBillNelson/status/1787642934310904090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Final preparations continue
There are approximately three hours until NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams head toward the International Space Station.
Wilmore and Williams have just arrived at the crew access tower at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and will soon enter the “White Room.” This environmentally controlled chamber, located at the outer end of the access arm platform, is where astronauts prepare to enter Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
While in the White Room, the crew will make last-minute adjustments before launch. Technicians will also complete a series of checks before Wilmore enters the capsule, followed by Williams.
The astronauts were equipped
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, are properly equipped and en route to the launch pad for tonight’s liftoff.
The duo spent about an hour donning their suits and completing leak checks on the suits inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Verification Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
After leaving the building, Wilmore and Williams greeted family and friends waiting outside before boarding the Boeing “Astrovan.”
“Let’s fly!” Wilmore exclaimed, feeling the excitement before launch.
After years of delay, Boeing will try again with the Starliner space capsule
From flaws in the Starliner’s software and parachute system to the recent incident with a Boeing 737 Max, the company has been under scrutiny for its ability to ensure safety
Before a door-sized panel burst into a Boeing 737 Maxleaving a huge hole in the side of a plane Alaska Airlines shortly after takeoff; before whistleblowers came forward saying they had been threatened for exposing safety issues at the company; and before the Justice Department open a criminal investigation into the explosion incident, Boeing was struggling with another set of problems, in another high-profile vehicle.
Boeing and NASA prepare for launch
Boeing and NASA are adjusting the final preparations for the first manned space mission aboard the Starliner spacecraft, whose launch to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled for this Monday night from Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA). .
The launch, which will take place from a platform at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:34 p.m. local time (02:34 GMT on Tuesday), has 95% favorable weather conditions, according to the US space agency.
The capsule is already mounted on top of an Atlas V launch rocket, from the United Launch Alliance (ULA), ready to receive its crew, made up of experienced NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’, a little less than three hours before takeoff. Wilmore and Sunita Williams.
If the takeoff is successful, the Starliner will reach the ISS, which is moving at more than 28,000 kilometers per hour, and will proceed to fit autonomously into the Harmony module at 00:46 hours (04:46 GMT) on Wednesday.
