Boeing’s new astronaut taxi will not launch on its first crewed mission subsequent month in spite of everything.
Boeing and NASA had been focusing on the second half of April for Crew Flight Take a look at (CFT), which is able to carry two astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the non-public Starliner capsule. However that plan has now modified.
“We’re adjusting the @Space_Station schedule together with the launch date for our Boeing Crew Flight Take a look at as groups assess readiness and full verification work. CFT now will launch following Axiom Mission 2 for optimized station operations,” NASA human spaceflight chief Kathy Lueders mentioned via Twitter on Thursday (opens in new tab) (March 23).
Axiom Mission 2, or Ax-2 for brief, would be the second crewed mission to the ISS operated by Houston-based firm Axiom House. It can make use of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule, as Ax-1 did in April 2022, and is tentatively scheduled to launch in early Might.
NASA will share goal launch dates for each Ax-2 and CFT quickly, Lueders mentioned in another Thursday tweet (opens in new tab). “As all the time, we are going to fly once we are prepared,” she added.
Associated: Starliner: Boeing’s next-generation spaceship for astronauts
Like SpaceX, Boeing holds a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA’s Business Crew Program to supply taxi providers to and from the ISS. SpaceX just lately launched the sixth operational astronaut flight below its contract, however Boeing continues to be getting Starliner in control.
Starliner does have one profitable spaceflight below its belt — an uncrewed jaunt known as Orbital Flight Test 2, which spent a couple of week docked to the ISS in Might 2022.
CFT is a fair larger check for Starliner. The mission will carry off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral House Power Station, sending NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the ISS for a roughly two-week keep.
If Starliner succeeds on CFT, NASA will doubtless certify it for normal astronaut missions, formally welcoming one other non-public crewed spacecraft into the American fleet.
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Ax-2, by the way in which, will ship 4 individuals to the ISS — former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson; investor John Shoffner; and Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni, each members of Saudi Arabia’s inaugural astronaut class. The latter duo will turn into the primary Saudis to journey to the ISS.
Whitson, who’s now a guide for Axiom House, will command the Ax-2 mission. She has spent extra time in house (665 days) than some other American.
Mike Wall is the creator of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a e book concerning the seek for alien life. Comply with him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Comply with us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), or on Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).
