Miami, June 3 (EFE).- NASA and Boeing have confirmed that they will launch the private firm’s first manned space mission on the morning of next Wednesday, after the cancellation last Saturday less than four minutes before takeoff.
The private firm’s Starliner spacecraft, with NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams on board, is scheduled to take off at 10:52 a.m. (2:52 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday from a platform on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida (USA).
In the event that the CFT (Crew Flight Test) mission cannot be launched that day, the US space agency and Boeing have next Thursday as a backup date.
Wednesday’s attempt was made known after the cancellation of last Saturday’s takeoff due to a technical problem identified at the base of the launch pad.
The Starliner was scheduled to rise at 12:25 local time (16:25 GMT) that day towards the International Space Station (ISS), powered by an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) company.
However, the Ground Launch Sequencer found an anomaly and automatically aborted the mission with 3 minutes and 50 seconds left for takeoff.
Mission managers have found that the problem originated in a chassis that supplies power to computer cards related to the Atlas V rocket, a chassis that was already replaced on Sunday.
“ULA has completed functional checks on the new chassis and cards, and all hardware is operating normally,” NASA said in a statement.
Mission managers quickly ruled out the possibility of sending the spacecraft on Sunday, after Saturday’s cancellation, and over the weekend they worked to be able to launch on Wednesday.
If they are unable to launch the mission next Wednesday or Thursday, they will have to postpone the launch for at least ten days to be able to change the batteries of the ULA rocket.
Last weekend was not the first cancellation of the takeoff of this mission, which in general has suffered several delays.
On May 6, the Starliner was preparing to rise towards the ISS from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but about two hours before launch the operation was suspended after an anomaly was discovered in a liquid oxygen tank on the ISS. Atlas V, from ULA.
Subsequently, a small helium leak was discovered in the Starliner’s service module, which led to further postponements.
The success of the CFT mission will allow Boeing to obtain the necessary certifications from NASA with a view to operating as a second provider of cargo and crew transportation to the ISS.
Boeing and SpaceX have signed million-dollar contracts with NASA to provide this service and to date only the second has been able to meet the objective. EFE
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