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After years of delays and setbacks, Boeing is finally ready to launch astronauts to the International Space Station for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Starliner will lift off on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
It will mark the first time astronauts will ride Atlas since NASA’s Project Mercury, which began with John Glenn when he became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. Sixty-two years later, this will be the 100th launch of the Atlas V, which is used to hoist satellites as well as spacecraft. It is noteworthy that 62 years ago, on May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to go to space.
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are scheduled to board Boeing’s Starliner crew where they will stay for about a week.
Talking about both astronauts, 58-year-old Williams is a former Navy test pilot who has flown more than 30 different aircraft. Since his initial flight in 2007 he has spent 322 days in space across two missions. Wilmore, a 61-year-old retired Navy captain, has spent 178 days in space since his first two space missions in 2009.
This mission is the first crewed flight for the Starliner spacecraft. The mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system, including launch, docking and return to Earth in the western United States. The US space agency had said, “Following the successful crewed flight test, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and systems for crewed missions to the space station.”
In 2019, an attempt to send an uncrewed Starliner to the ISS for a week ended in failure. Due to several software and engineering problems, the mission had to be cut short, with the spacecraft returning to Earth several days earlier than planned.
Launch time and where to watch live
Boeing and NASA are aiming for a launch at 10:34 p.m. EDT on May 6 for a week-long trip to the ISS, with a launch date of 4 a.m. on May 7. You can watch the launch live on NASA’s YouTube channel.
(With inputs from Reuters, Associated Press)
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Published: 06 May 2024, 11:05 am IST
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