After the technical failure last Saturday and after six failed attempts, NASA and Boeing successfully launched the Starliner crew capsule. The historic mission took off from Cape Canaveral and transports two astronauts to the International Space Station. The space agency seeks to expand the alternatives to travel to space with SpaceX ships.
Initially the mission was scheduled to take off last Saturday, June 1, however, due to a problem with the ground launch sequencer, NASA and Boeing decided to cancel it. United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket carries the Boeing Starliner spacecraft along with its two astronauts: Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to the International Space Station.
NASA announced that they will hold a press conference at the Kennedy Space Center, which will be attended by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA Space Operations Mission Directorate.
What NASA’s Starliner mission is all about
Boeing’s Starliner mission, in collaboration with NASA, has as its main objective transport astronauts to the International Space Station. The Starliner crew and service modules are currently docked and awaiting standard pre-launch procedures. In addition, the Atlas V rocket, which will propel the ship, is already in Florida, ready for integration with Starliner.
The astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, selected for this mission, continue their intensive training for their approximately eight-day stay in the orbital laboratory. Notably Starliner has already carried out two uncrewed flight tests, with one of them managing to dock with the ISS in May 2022. This ship represents a alternative to SpaceX’s Crew Dragonwhich has already transported astronauts to the ISS on previous missions.
