By Marcia Dunn – The Associated Press
Boeing will try again this Wednesday to launch its first astronaut, a journey delayed for years due to safety problems.
This is the third launch attempt by NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in Boeing’s Starliner capsule. Rocket-related problems thwarted the first two.
The astronauts will test the Starliner’s systems on the way to the International Space Station, where they will spend at least a week before attempting to land in the western United States.
NASA hired Boeing along with SpaceX after the retirement of the space shuttles to transport astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX has been transporting astronauts since 2020.
Boeing’s capsule was launched into orbit in 2019 without a crew, but that test flight was cut short due to software issues. Boeing had better luck on the repeat mission in 2022, but parachute and other problems were later discovered, further delaying the dispatch of the Starliner crew.
Minutes before takeoff scheduled for Saturday, the power unit of a computer failed on the platform and had to be replaced by the rocket manufacturer United Launch Alliance. And a faulty valve inside the Atlas V rocket thwarted the launch attempt in early May.
