Boeing Starliner crew capsule to launch to ISS TOMORROW in bid to rival Elon Musk thesun.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesun.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In 2019, Starliner failed to rendezvous with the space station during its first uncrewed test flight after being plagued by software issues.
But the spacecraft was able to successfully return to Earth two days after launch, landing at the White Sands Space Harbour in New Mexico.
Over the past 18 months, Boeing and Nasa teams worked together to resolve the issues, which involved taking 80 corrective actions.
Following Starliner’s flight readiness test last week, Kathy Lueders, Nasa’s director of spaceflight, said: “After reviewing the team’s data, and the readiness of all the parties, everybody said ‘go’ for the launch.”
(PA Graphics)
Aerospace giant Boeing is set to attempt its second uncrewed flight to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a test to show it can get to and from the orbiting lab safely.
The CST-100 Starliner capsule will carry supplies and test equipment to the space station but the main aim of the mission will be to demonstrate that the spacecraft can launch, dock, re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and perform a desert landing safely.
Nasa and Boeing are targeting July 30 for the lift-off, which will take place at the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
If the mission is successful, it will pave the way for Starliner to become a “taxi service” for Nasa, ferrying astronauts to and from the space station.
In 2019, Starliner failed to rendezvous with the space station during its first uncrewed test flight after being plagued by software issues.
But the spacecraft was able to successfully return to Earth two days after launch, landing at the White Sands Space Harbour in New Mexico.
Over the past 18 months, Boeing and Nasa teams worked together to resolve the issues, which involved taking 80 corrective actions.
Following Starliner’s flight readiness test last week, Kathy Lueders, Nasa’s director of spaceflight, said: “After reviewing the team’s data, and the readiness of all the parties, everybody said ‘go’ for the launch.”
(PA Graphics)
Aerospace giant Boeing is set to attempt its second uncrewed flight to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a test to show it can get to and from the orbiting lab safely.
The CST-100 Starliner capsule will carry supplies and test equipment to the space station but the main aim of the mission will be to demonstrate that the spacecraft can launch, dock, re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and perform a desert landing safely.
Nasa and Boeing are targeting July 30 for the lift-off, which will take place at the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
If the mission is successful, it will pave the way for Starliner to become a “taxi service” for Nasa, ferrying astronauts to and from the space station.