Featured Image: ULA
Liftoff Time/Launch Window | May 07, 2024 – 02:34 UTC May 06, 2024 – 22:34 EDT |
|---|---|
Mission Name | Starliner Crewed Flight Test |
Launch Provider | United Launch Alliance |
Customer | Boeing, NASA |
Rocket | Atlas V N22 |
Launch Location | SLC-41, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA |
Payload mass | Not Specified |
Where is the spacecraft going? | International Space Station |
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage? | No |
Where will the first stage land? | It will crash into the Atlantic Ocean |
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings? | There are no fairings |
Are these fairings new? | There are no fairings |
How’s the weather looking? | The weather is currently 90% GO for launch. |
This will be the: | -100th launch of an Atlas V – 3rd mission for ULA in 2024 – 161st mission for ULA overall – 1st Atlas V launch of 2024 – 1st launch of crew from CCSFS since 1968 (Apollo 7) |
Where to watch | Official livestream Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, will be streaming at T-60 minutes; come ask questions and join the conversation live! |
What’s All This Mean?
After delays and technical setbacks, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is ready to launch crew and enter into its role in the Commercial Crew Program. The inaugural crew launch will feature two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, and will ferry them to the International Space Station. Starliner will launch atop an United Launch Alliance Atlas V N22 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the first crewed launch from the facility since the Apollo 7 mission in 1968.
Mission Overview and Crew
Similarly to the Demonstration Mission 2 that SpaceX conducted with the Dragon spacecraft in May 2020, Starliners’s Crewed Flight Test is the final certification flight before Starliner enters service in the Commercial Crew Program. The crew is slated to stay on board the ISS for just one week before returning to Earth. The landing zone is in the western United States on land, with the assistance of airbags. The previous flight test, completed in May 2022, already tested the rocket, spacecraft, and other critical systems. This flight test will do the same, but with crew on board.
Commander Butch Willmore
Born in 1962 in Tennessee, Barry “Butch” Wilmore is a spaceflight veteran. He received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree from Tennessee Tech in electrical engineering. His first spaceflight was an 11 day space shuttle mission and his second, Expedition 41 to the ISS. His time in space now totals 178 days. For CFT, he will assume the role of commander.
Pilot Suni Williams
Born in 1965 in Ohio, Sunita Williams is also no strangers to spaceflight. Williams graduated from Needham High School before going on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in physical science from the United States Naval Academy in 1987, and a Master of Science degree in engineering management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1995. She has spent a total of 322 days in space across two missions, Expedition 14/15 and 32/33.
Looks like a shorter article. Why way shorter than normal?
Could say how many Atlas V N22 have previously flown, DEC…
Why no info on Starliner capsule ?
Have the life support systems in Starliner been tested in space yet ?