The Starliner Launch Test Flight: Onboard Clock Mishapes and the First Test Flight of the Space Shuttle’s I.S.S
The launch of the Starliner has been a long time coming. With this highly anticipated liftoff, Boeing will officially be the second company (after SpaceX) to partner with NASA to carry humans into space. Suni Williams is one of the two NASA astronauts who will head to the International Space Station. The plan is for the astronauts to remain there for a week or so, then return to planet Earth, reentering the atmosphere aboard the same craft and then landing under parachutes.
The latest test flight comes roughly a decade after NASA awarded Boeing a more than $4 billion contract as part of the agency’s effort to pay private companies to help ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, following the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.
Nine missions for NASA have been flown by the same company that was awarded a contract through the NASA initiative.
The Starliner’s onboard clock, which was set wrong, caused the capsule’s engines to be fired too early during the first mission in 2019. The I.S.S. docked with the spaceship during its second test flight in 2022, despite the fact that some of its engines failed.
The planned maiden voyage of the Starliners was scrapped last year after company officials realized that the craft’s lines to its three parachutes appeared to be weaker than expected and that the glue used to wrap the craft’s electrical wiring was dangerous. The launch was delayed indefinitely.
The First Test Flight of the Starliner: A Test Flight for Two-Flavor Voyagers and a New Launch Vehicle
“We are to a state now where we are ready to perform the test flight,” Mark Nappi, Boeing vice president and program manager of the Commercial Crew Program, said during a Friday press conference. “I’ve never felt readier on any mission that I’ve ever participated in.”
Two veteran NASA astronauts — Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams — will fly aboard the Starliner and spend about a week at the I.S.S. before returning to Earth.
“I know I don’t think either one of us ever dreamed that we’d be associated with the first flight of a brand new spacecraft,” Wilmore said. “But we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that.”
Laura Forczyk, executive director of the space consulting firm Astralytical, said the “stakes are higher” for this test flight because it’s the first time Starliner will travel with people on board.
Forczyk said the two-year gap between the Starliner’s last successful test flight and Monday’s planned launch “both gives me confidence, because it means that NASA and Boeing are taking this very seriously, but it also makes me nervous because it has been two years since this vehicle has been operational.”
Boeing is facing a lot of scrutiny this year after a rear door plug went out on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
The Boeing-Naaa Launch: Livestreaming the Future of Space and Space-Based Human Experiences with More People Involved
Boeing and NASA will host a launch on May 6 at 10:34 pm and 7:34 pm. You can watch the livestream of the launch a few ways. It will stream on NASA’s official website and YouTube channel, as well as on NASA+, the agency’s subscription service. If you’re on mobile, the stream is also available on the NASA app. You can also watch it right here.
If this mission succeeds without a hitch, it will also likely be a welcome hit of good news for the troubled aviation company. Boeing has drawn unwanted attention in recent months due to a number of technical malfunction on its airlines that have scared travelers and made headlines. The events are not new after two of Boeing’s planes crashed in less than a year. Clearly, Boeing is eager to claw back some public goodwill and write a whole new chapter centered around a future of bringing more people into space.