The first Boeing Starliner astronauts are back at the launch site.NASA Crew Flight Test (CFT) astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday (May 28) ahead of their expected liftoff of Boeing Starliner on Saturday (June 1).NASA will hold a delta flight readiness review later today (May 29) to review the launch, officials have said; this is a bit more detailed than a standard review, to address technical concerns on Starliner arising from a helium leak.Assuming the mission passes that review and schedules hold, CFT will launch from the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station no earlier than 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 GMT), and you can watch the historic launch here at Space.com, via NASA Television. NASA will provide an update to reporters on Friday (May 31) at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) which you can also watch live here.Related: ‘It’s so complicated:’ Boeing Starliner teams diagnosing helium leak ahead of June 1 astronaut launchIt’s not the first time the crew flew in to KSC on NASA T-38 trainer jets for a launch attempt; they first flew in on April 25 for what was expected to be a May 6 launch, but that effort was scrubbed just two hours before liftoff.As the stacked Starliner and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket underwent troubleshooting, the crew — still in quarantine — returned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for a few weeks to continue training and await a firmer launch date. an astronaut in flight suit touching his hands in front of his chest. behind him is a jet with cockpit openNASA Crew Flight Test astronaut Butch Wilmore in front of a T-38 trainer jet, after arriving in it at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on May 28, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/Cory S Huston)Starliner CFT has had a long journey to the launch pad. NASA tasked both SpaceX and Boeing with billion-dollar-scale contracts in 2014 to send astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017. Both vehicles were delayed in that goal due to technical and funding challenges.SpaceX, borrowing from its cargo Dragon design that has flown ISS missions since 2012, finished its first crewed test in 2020. SpaceX has flown 11 other missions to the ISS since then. Starliner, a brand-new spacecraft, took longer.Starliner’s first ISS mission in 2019 without astronauts got stranded in the wrong orbit due to software glitches and failed to reach its destination. A follow-up mission in 2022 made it safely after dozens of fixes, and delays due to the pandemic.Related: 2 astronaut taxis: Why NASA wants both Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Dragon a grey-and-blue cone-shaped spacecraft seen through a window with earth belowCFT met another delay in 202 …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnThe first Boeing Starliner astronauts are back at the launch site.NASA Crew Flight Test (CFT) astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday (May 28) ahead of their expected liftoff of Boeing Starliner on Saturday (June 1).NASA will hold a delta flight readiness review later today (May 29) to review the launch, officials have said; this is a bit more detailed than a standard review, to address technical concerns on Starliner arising from a helium leak.Assuming the mission passes that review and schedules hold, CFT will launch from the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station no earlier than 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 GMT), and you can watch the historic launch here at Space.com, via NASA Television. NASA will provide an update to reporters on Friday (May 31) at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) which you can also watch live here.Related: ‘It’s so complicated:’ Boeing Starliner teams diagnosing helium leak ahead of June 1 astronaut launchIt’s not the first time the crew flew in to KSC on NASA T-38 trainer jets for a launch attempt; they first flew in on April 25 for what was expected to be a May 6 launch, but that effort was scrubbed just two hours before liftoff.As the stacked Starliner and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket underwent troubleshooting, the crew — still in quarantine — returned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for a few weeks to continue training and await a firmer launch date. an astronaut in flight suit touching his hands in front of his chest. behind him is a jet with cockpit openNASA Crew Flight Test astronaut Butch Wilmore in front of a T-38 trainer jet, after arriving in it at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on May 28, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/Cory S Huston)Starliner CFT has had a long journey to the launch pad. NASA tasked both SpaceX and Boeing with billion-dollar-scale contracts in 2014 to send astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017. Both vehicles were delayed in that goal due to technical and funding challenges.SpaceX, borrowing from its cargo Dragon design that has flown ISS missions since 2012, finished its first crewed test in 2020. SpaceX has flown 11 other missions to the ISS since then. Starliner, a brand-new spacecraft, took longer.Starliner’s first ISS mission in 2019 without astronauts got stranded in the wrong orbit due to software glitches and failed to reach its destination. A follow-up mission in 2022 made it safely after dozens of fixes, and delays due to the pandemic.Related: 2 astronaut taxis: Why NASA wants both Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Dragon a grey-and-blue cone-shaped spacecraft seen through a window with earth belowCFT met another delay in 202 …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
