A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft aboard is rolled onto the launch pad ahead of NASA’s Boeing crewed flight test scheduled for Saturday, June 1.
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The summer season of space travel is already off to a rocky start.
After years of delays, NASA is preparing to launch two astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a new spacecraft built by Boeing.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are set to lift off at 12:25 a.m. ET Saturday aboard the Boeing Starliner en route to the International Space Station. The liftoff will come roughly a month after the Starliner was originally supposed to fly to the station, and that launch was already years behind schedule.
But in a twist familiar to many air travelers here on Earth, the astronauts’ luggage is being left behind. Lost baggage is not Boeing’s fault. The space station’s urine recycling system broke down earlier this week, and NASA had to make room to send a new pump.
“We ended up retrieving two crew suitcases, they have clothes in them,” said Dana Weigel, NASA’s International Space Station Program manager during a press conference Friday.
Here’s what else you need to know about today’s presentation.
This will be the first flight of the Starliner
In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing a $4.2 billion contract to build the Starliner as a vehicle to transport astronauts on routine missions to the International Space Station.
The Starliner program has since fallen far behind schedule and over budget. Boeing has estimated that the program has cost the company over $1 billion in losses.
At the same time NASA awarded Boeing the contract, it gave SpaceX $2.6 billion to develop its Dragon capsule. This spacecraft completed its crewed test flight in 2020, and now regularly transports astronauts to the station.
Starliner is plagued by technical problems
The Starliner failed to reach the ISS during its first mission in 2019. The cause was an incorrectly set clock on board, which caused a computer to fire the capsule’s engines too early. The spacecraft managed to reach the ISS during the second test flight in 2022, despite the failure of several thrusters to work as planned.
Boeing delayed the first crewed flight of the Starliner last year after company officials realized the duct tape used on hundreds of feet of electrical wiring was potentially flammable and the capsule’s three parachutes were connected by lines that appeared weaker than expected. .
Its most recent launch attempt on May 6 was aborted due to a stuck valve in the rocket launching the Starliner. That valve was replaced, but engineers also discovered a small helium leak in one of the Starliner’s thrusters.
The leak is probably due to a faulty seal, although engineers aren’t entirely sure. However, after weeks of extensive analysis they believe the Starliner can fly safely even with leaks.
Today’s launch will be a big milestone though
Despite all the problems, today’s launch is still likely to be a milestone for NASA and Boeing.
A successful test will pave the way for more Starliner flights, which will give NASA two independent private spacecraft that can carry astronauts to the space station.
Assuming all goes well, the Starliner will dock with the space station and stay there for just over a week while Williams and Wilmore conduct numerous tests. It will then re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and land in one of several areas in the western United States.
NPR’s Joe Hernandez contributed to this report.
