Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test Delayed
Boeing’s inaugural astronaut mission utilizing the new Starliner spacecraft has encountered a delay, pushing the launch date back four days to May 25. Originally scheduled for May 21, Tuesday, the launch of Starliner’s Crew Flight Test (CFT) – designed to ferry NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station (ISS) for a week-long stay – will now occur on May 25. The liftoff is slated to take place at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida’s Space Coast, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
Following the discovery of a minor helium leak in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft’s service module at a flange on a single reaction control system thruster, NASA announced the decision to delay the launch. The leak, identified earlier in the week, prompted the rescheduling from the original launch date of May 21. Though initial assessments indicate the leak does not pose a significant risk, NASA, Boeing, and ULA have opted for additional time to evaluate the situation thoroughly.
Pressure testing conducted on May 15 on the spacecraft’s helium system revealed the leak at the flange to be stable and not anticipated to present a danger during the flight. Further evaluations indicated the remaining thruster system is effectively sealed throughout the service module. Boeing’s teams are diligently working on developing operational procedures to ensure continued performance capability and necessary redundancy during the flight.
The Crew Flight Test (CFT) was initially slated for launch on May 6, but was postponed just prior to liftoff due to an issue with a valve in the Atlas V rocket’s upper stage. After determining the need for valve replacement, the launch was delayed, leading to the subsequent rescheduling to May 21. However, the emergence of the helium leak necessitated further postponement to May 25.
Astronauts in Quarantine
While Starliner and its launch vehicle remain housed in the assembly building, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are currently in quarantine in Houston in anticipation of the impending launch. Upon approaching the revised launch date, they will return to Florida’s Space Coast, as confirmed by NASA officials in the recent update.
Boeing, the developer and operator of Starliner, is executing this mission under a $4.2 billion contract awarded by NASA’s Commercial Crew Program in 2014. In a similar fashion, SpaceX received a $2.6 billion contract to develop its Dragon capsule. Presently, SpaceX is conducting its eighth long-duration astronaut mission to the ISS for NASA, while the Crew Flight Test will mark Starliner’s inaugural crewed mission – akin to SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission, which launched in May 2020.
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