Boeing’s first spaceflight with astronauts has been delayed till subsequent yr due to repairs that should be made to the capsule following its final check flight.
Liftoff of the Starliner capsule with a pair of NASA check pilots is now scheduled for February, officers introduced Thursday. They had hoped to launch it by yr’s finish.
Boeing has launched Starliner twice with no crew, most recently in May. The capsule managed to dock with the International Space Station on the second go-around, regardless of thruster and different issues. Boeing program supervisor Mark Nappi mentioned these points should be mounted earlier than two NASA astronauts climb aboard, as early as February.
Some of the thruster bother is believed to have been attributable to particles. Because that a part of the capsule was ditched earlier than landing, “we will never know exactly what was the issue,” Nappi instructed reporters.
Boeing already was trailing SpaceX, NASA’s different contracted taxi service, by the point the Starliner made its debut in 2019. The capsule‘s preliminary check flight with a model was lower quick by a string of software program issues, prompting this yr’s do-over.
SpaceX is gearing up for its sixth crew flight for NASA. Liftoff has been bumped to the start of October due to all of the visitors on the space station.
NASA’s space station program supervisor, Joel Montalbano, mentioned Boeing can have precedence in February.
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Boeing astronaut flight off till subsequent yr for extra fixes (2022, August 25)
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