NASA and Boeing will present an replace concerning the Starliner capsule’s ongoing astronaut mission right this moment (July 24), and you may watch it reside.
The mission, referred to as Crew Flight Check (CFT), launched on June 5, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams towards the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) for a deliberate weeklong keep.
Starliner suffered thruster issues and helium leaks throughout its journey to the orbiting lab, nevertheless, and the capsule stays docked to the ISS whereas mission workforce members look into the problems.
We’ll get the most recent data throughout right this moment’s press convention, which begins at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT). You possibly can watch it reside right here at Area.com, courtesy of NASA.
The press convention may have two individuals: Steve Stich, supervisor of NASA’s Business Crew Program, and Mark Nappi, vp and supervisor of Boeing’s Business Crew Program.
Associated: Boeing’s Starliner can keep in house past 45-day restrict, NASA says
NASA and Boeing engineers not too long ago wrapped up some hot-fire testing with a Starliner thruster on the White Sands Check Facility in New Mexico — work that will likely be mentioned throughout right this moment’s briefing.
“The take a look at collection concerned firing the engine by related in-flight circumstances the spacecraft skilled throughout its method to the house station, in addition to varied stress-case firings for what is anticipated throughout Starliner’s undocking and the deorbit burn that may place the spacecraft for a touchdown within the southwestern United States,” NASA officers said in a statement.
NASA and Boeing haven’t but introduced a goal undocking date for CFT, which is Starliner’s first crewed flight.
Boeing developed Starliner underneath a multibillion-dollar contract awarded by NASA’s Business Crew Program in 2014.
SpaceX inked an identical deal at the moment, for work on a crewed variant of its Dragon capsule. Elon Musk’s firm launched astronauts to the ISS for the primary time in Might 2020, on a take a look at flight referred to as Demo-2. SpaceX is now in the course of its eighth operational, long-duration crewed mission to the orbiting lab for NASA.
