Years behind schedule and more than a billion dollars over budget, Boeing’s Starliner capsule is finally poised for its first piloted launch Monday, a critical test flight carrying two veteran astronauts to the International Space Station and in so doing, demonstrate an alternative to SpaceX’s already operational Crew Dragon.While SpaceX has launched 50 astronauts, cosmonauts and civilians into orbit in 13 piloted Crew Dragon flights since May 2020, Boeing has been bedeviled by multiple technical problems that required extensive re-work — and an additional unpiloted test flight — to resolve.But mission managers say all the known issues have been corrected, multiple other upgrades and improvements have been implemented and the spacecraft has been thoroughly tested to verify it is finally ready to safely carry astronauts to and from the space station.Boeing’s Starliner astronaut crew ship is perched atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station awaiting launch on the spacecraft’s third test flight, its first with astronauts aboard. / Credit: United Launch AllianceNo one is more eager for launch than the Starliner’s crew, both active-duty NASA astronauts.”I have full confidence in the management that makes the decisions that filter down to the operations team, full confidence on the NASA side and the Boeing side,” said mission commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore. “There have been some issues in the past. That’s the past. That is not now.”Co-pilot Sunita Williams agreed, adding “I feel like we’ve had a lot of lessons learned, and they’ve been incorporated. … We wouldn’t say we’re ready if we weren’t ready.”The Starliner’s long-awaited liftoff atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at the Cape Canaveral …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnYears behind schedule and more than a billion dollars over budget, Boeing’s Starliner capsule is finally poised for its first piloted launch Monday, a critical test flight carrying two veteran astronauts to the International Space Station and in so doing, demonstrate an alternative to SpaceX’s already operational Crew Dragon.While SpaceX has launched 50 astronauts, cosmonauts and civilians into orbit in 13 piloted Crew Dragon flights since May 2020, Boeing has been bedeviled by multiple technical problems that required extensive re-work — and an additional unpiloted test flight — to resolve.But mission managers say all the known issues have been corrected, multiple other upgrades and improvements have been implemented and the spacecraft has been thoroughly tested to verify it is finally ready to safely carry astronauts to and from the space station.Boeing’s Starliner astronaut crew ship is perched atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station awaiting launch on the spacecraft’s third test flight, its first with astronauts aboard. / Credit: United Launch AllianceNo one is more eager for launch than the Starliner’s crew, both active-duty NASA astronauts.”I have full confidence in the management that makes the decisions that filter down to the operations team, full confidence on the NASA side and the Boeing side,” said mission commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore. “There have been some issues in the past. That’s the past. That is not now.”Co-pilot Sunita Williams agreed, adding “I feel like we’ve had a lot of lessons learned, and they’ve been incorporated. … We wouldn’t say we’re ready if we weren’t ready.”The Starliner’s long-awaited liftoff atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at the Cape Canaveral …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
