After years of delays and setbacks, Boeing plans to launch two veteran astronauts to the International Space Station on Monday night aboard its Starliner spacecraft.
After years of delays, Boeing is finally set to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on its Starliner spacecraft.
The capsule is scheduled to lift off Monday at 10:34 p.m. ET, atop an Atlas V rocket at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams will pilot the Starliner on its inaugural crewed flight — a crucial final test before NASA can authorize Boeing to conduct routine flights to and from the space station for the agency.
The stakes are high. This will be Boeing’s first launch with humans aboard its spaceship, and it comes after years of delays, technical setbacks and significant budget overruns. If successful, the flight will enable Boeing to challenge the dominance held by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has been ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost since 2020.
I don’t know, is it? Would you get on a rocket designed by Boeing?
Rocket, capsule, whatever. That’s not really the point. Boeing made something that could very easily kill them specifically because it was made by Boeing, not because of the risks of space travel.
Yes. But it might be worth separating because the rocket has superb reliability record and ULA folks don’t deserve being smeared with Boeing shit. 😂
Ok, fair enough.
Ah. Well they were designed by Lockmart and have had only one major failure AFAIK, so the rocket party is probably fine. Ought to check the door seals on the capsule, though.