NASA and Boeing confirm target date for sending crew to ISS on Starliner
The Boeing Starliner capsule continues to prepare for its historic crewed flight to the ISS in mid-April. This Crew Flight Test (CFT) will send to the «orbital laboratory» NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
Starliner is designed as a space transport vehicle for astronauts, and its first crewed flight is expected in just six weeks.
«Our teams have done a great job of eliminating technical problems identified during the flight certification process», — a NASA spokesperson said in a blog post on January 24. These technical problems significantly delayed the launch of CFT — from July 2023 to spring of this year.
In particular, two main problems that could have an impact on flight safety have been resolved. The first problem is related to the inadequacy of the required load of the soft links, which are part of the suspension system of the Starliner main parachutes. The second problem involved wrapping the capsule wiring with flammable tape P213.
The Starliner team has made changes to the parachute system, a new version of which successfully completed a drop test in the Arizona desert earlier this month. Additionally, the P213 taped wiring was removed and replaced.
«Boeing engineers removed more than 7.7 kilograms and 1,310 meters of material from the Starliner capsule», — NASA notes on its blog.
CFT expects Wilmore and Williams to be sent to the ISS for ten days. Starliner will be launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Center in Florida.
This flight will be the third for Starliner. In December 2019, the capsule was unable to complete its planned flight to the ISS in automatic mode, but it succeeded on the second attempt in May 2022.
NASA entered into contracts with Boeing and SpaceX in September 2014 to transport astronauts to the ISS. SpaceX has already successfully completed seven missions on its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule. The company is preparing to send its eighth crew launch as early as next month.
Boeing Starliner has a capacity of up to seven crew members, while SpaceX Dragon can carry up to four people. Both spacecraft include life support systems, autonomous orbit control and reentry systems, and emergency recovery facilities. In terms of safety, both vehicles undergo rigorous testing and certification before each launch.