Boeing prepares for Starliner's first crewed launch into space after several setbacks
- by WFDD
- May 06, 2024
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In this photo provided by NASA, the Boeing Starliner spacecraft is lifted for mounting on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.
Two veteran NASA astronauts — Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams — will fly aboard the Starliner and spend about a week at the I.S.S. before returning to Earth.
"We feel very safe and very comfortable when this spacecraft flies," Williams saidearlier this month. "This is where we're supposed to be."
Wilmore told reporters earlier this month that his and Williams' backgrounds as Navy pilots propelled them onto the Starliner mission.
"I know I don't think either one of us ever dreamed that we'd be associated with the first flight of a brand new spacecraft," Wilmore said. "But we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that."
Laura Forczyk, executive director of the space consulting firm Astralytical, said the "stakes are higher" for this test flight because it's the first time Starliner will travel with people on board.
Forczyk said the two-year gap between the Starliner's last successful test flight and Monday's planned launch "both gives me confidence, because it means that NASA and Boeing are taking this very seriously, but it also makes me nervous because it has been two years since this vehicle has been operational."
Meanwhile, Boeing has been facing intense scrutiny this year on the commercial aviation side of its business after a rear door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff in January.
Whistleblowers have since come forward to detail alleged quality control lapses at the storied company, and the Federal Aviation Administration said it was opening an audit into Boeing's production. The Justice Department also announced it would open a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines incident.
NPR's Geoff Brumfiel contributed reporting.
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