On May 6, NASA and Boeing plan to launch the first crewed Starliner mission into space, a capsule manufactured by the North American aerospace company. The Boeing spacecraft will be launched on a two-week mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The mission will carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams. This will be the ship's first flight with a crew on board, making it one of the main competitors to Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The flight is scheduled to take place at 11:30 pm (Brasilia time) on the 6th of this month, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA will stream the launch live to your Facebook profile Youtube.
“Since last year, we have done everything we can to ensure that nothing goes unnoticed. For this mission, all steps of the certification process are completed, with safety in mind,” Steve Stich, director of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said at a conference. top priority.”
Expectations regarding the Boeing launch
The launch has been eagerly awaited. This is because the equipment produced by Boeing – one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturers – has been developed for nearly 15 years.
This is because the company faced difficulties and delays in manufacturing the spacecraft. In 2019, for example, during the first unmanned test, it failed to reach the planned orbit due to technical problems. Fortunately, in 2022, the ship – which also does not contain astronauts – was able to dock with the International Space Station. It spent 5 days in orbit before returning safely to Earth.
A photo of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft approaching the International Space Station in 2022. Image: NASA/Disclosure
Now, the Starliner is expected to (finally) be able to transport the two astronauts with the help of an Atlas V rocket, developed by another North American company, Lockheed Martin (responsible for the Artemis mission ship). NASA plans for the astronauts to spend about a week on the International Space Station, conducting certification tests on the new spacecraft.
The Starliner is 5 meters high and 4.6 meters in diameter. Like Spacex's competitor Crew Dragon, Boeing's spacecraft is also reusable, but can carry up to seven people (in SpaceX there are only 4).
To date, it is estimated that the company has exceeded its original budget and has already spent more than… 1.5 billion US dollars in the project. In fact, the company is also facing an image problem, after a plane lost a door mid-flight.
On the other hand, if the mission is successful and receives NASA certifications, Boeing will become the second provider of crew and cargo flights to the International Space Station. Currently, only SpaceX has achieved this feat.
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