After a decade, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft began its first crew-observed flight test today. The main event took place at 10:52 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, where the spacecraft lifted off atop an Atlas V rocket. The mission, called Crew Flight Test, aims to compete with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule and expand the options for the United States to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA‘s commercial crew program
Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams rode in the Starliner capsule, marking only the sixth maiden voyage by a crewed spacecraft in the US. history and Williams made history as the first woman to fly on such a mission.
The astronauts will travel to the ISS in just over 24 hours. To be in port around 12:15 p.m. On Wednesday, ET Williams and Wilmore will already join seven astronauts and cosmonauts in the orbiting station.
The Starliner is equipped with the necessary pumps needed to repair the space agency’s water treatment assembly, which failed on May 29. The water treatment system is necessary to return crew water to drinking water, and ensures that the ISS operates as a closed system
The weather was ideal for today’s launch, with a 90% chance of success. If the lift doesn’t happen today, there’s another chance at 10:29 a.m. tomorrow. ET12. The historic journey represents a milestone in space exploration, as the Boeing Starliner joins the ranks of missions such as Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, the space shuttle and SpaceX Dragon.
