by NASA has announced that it plans to launch the first crewed test flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule this past April. The spacecraft has been through a troubled development and testing process but aims to be the second US-based crew transport vehicle alongside the SpaceX Crew Dragon.
The launch of the first crewed flight of the troubled Boeing Starliner is scheduled for April this year, between the middle and the end of the month. The mission, named the Crew Flight Test (CFT), is the final test before the Starliner can be used regularly to ferry crew from Earth to the International Space Station (ISS) and back.
The CFT launch will take place from Space Launch Complex-41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, using a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The flight will be carried by two NASA astronauts, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams, in an eight-day mission that will travel to the ISS, dock there, and then return to Earth.
This is the third orbital test flight of the Starliner, following two previous uncrewed flights in 2019 and 2022. The first of these flights, named OFT-1, failed to reach the International Space Station as planned and a subsequent investigation found that there were various problems. with the capsule. The second OFT-2 orbital flight was more successful with only a minor issue with the docking process to the ISS.
In a press conference, NASA official Steve Stitch said that NASA and Boeing were looking forward to the launch and about 80% of the preparatory work had already been done.
Regarding the Starliner’s previous issue with its value failing in Florida’s high-humidity conditions, NASA said that the components in the Starliner had been adapted to protect against a recurrence of the issue and was confident that the solution would hold .
Another way to protect the flight from moisture is to only add fuel to the vehicle within 60 days of launch, which prevents the fuel from corroding any valves. “Today we are much more confident in the mitigation we have implemented with the cleaning systems and the ceiling of the connectors so that that kind of moisture does not get into the valve, but we still have this 60-.” day guideline,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and Starliner program manager at Boeing.
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