Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.Two NASA astronauts have reached the final hours before a long-awaited launch attempt aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, marking the first crewed mission of the brand-new spacecraft.Starliner — which the aerospace giant designed to rival SpaceX’s prolific Crew Dragon capsule — is set to take off for its inaugural crewed test run at 10:34 p.m. ET Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.NASA will webcast the event on its channels beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET Monday. CNN will carry live updates of the mission online shortly before liftoff.Weather or technical issues can always force a rocket launch to scrub all the way up until the countdown clock strikes zero, but the forecast for this evening is as good as it gets. Weather officials have said there’s only a 5% chance that clouds, winds or storms will interrupt tonight’s takeoff.This mission, dubbed the Crew Flight Test, could be the final major milestone before NASA deems Boeing’s spacecraft ready for routine operations as part of the federal agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner would join SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in NASA’s push to collaborate with private industry partners, expanding the United States’ options for ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station.The mission crew members are veteran astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, each of whom has ventured to space on two previous journeys aboard NASA space shuttle and Russian Soyuz missions. NASA astronauts Suni Williams (left) Butch Wilmore pose after they arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on April 25, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, ahead of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test. – Terry Renna/AP“They’re checking out a lot of the systems: the life support, the manual control,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a Friday news conference. “That’s why we put two test pilots on board — and of course the résumés of Butch and Suni are extensive.”This would mark only the sixth maiden voyage of a crewed spacecraft in US history, Nelson noted: “It started with Mercury, then with Gemini, then with Apollo, the space shuttle, then (SpaceX’s) Dr …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnSign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.Two NASA astronauts have reached the final hours before a long-awaited launch attempt aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, marking the first crewed mission of the brand-new spacecraft.Starliner — which the aerospace giant designed to rival SpaceX’s prolific Crew Dragon capsule — is set to take off for its inaugural crewed test run at 10:34 p.m. ET Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.NASA will webcast the event on its channels beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET Monday. CNN will carry live updates of the mission online shortly before liftoff.Weather or technical issues can always force a rocket launch to scrub all the way up until the countdown clock strikes zero, but the forecast for this evening is as good as it gets. Weather officials have said there’s only a 5% chance that clouds, winds or storms will interrupt tonight’s takeoff.This mission, dubbed the Crew Flight Test, could be the final major milestone before NASA deems Boeing’s spacecraft ready for routine operations as part of the federal agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner would join SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in NASA’s push to collaborate with private industry partners, expanding the United States’ options for ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station.The mission crew members are veteran astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, each of whom has ventured to space on two previous journeys aboard NASA space shuttle and Russian Soyuz missions. NASA astronauts Suni Williams (left) Butch Wilmore pose after they arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on April 25, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, ahead of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test. – Terry Renna/AP“They’re checking out a lot of the systems: the life support, the manual control,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a Friday news conference. “That’s why we put two test pilots on board — and of course the résumés of Butch and Suni are extensive.”This would mark only the sixth maiden voyage of a crewed spacecraft in US history, Nelson noted: “It started with Mercury, then with Gemini, then with Apollo, the space shuttle, then (SpaceX’s) Dr …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
