Starliner Crew to Join Storied Lineup of Military Astronauts to Test-Fly U.S. Spacecraft
- by Military.com
- May 06, 2024
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May 06, 2024
The first astronauts to fly into space in a Boeing Starliner capsule anticipate joining an exclusive cohort of military test pilots.
Since the advent of human spaceflight, U.S. military service members or veterans have flown the inaugural crewed missions for all the nation's spaceflight programs, from Mercury in 1961 through the Space Shuttle era and including SpaceX's Crew Dragon in 2020.
Climbing aboard the Boeing capsule for their scheduled liftoff at 10:34 p.m. ET on May 6 were commander Barry E. "Butch" Wilmore and mission pilot Sunita L. "Suni" Williams. Both are retired Navy captains and test pilots. The mission represents each of their third trips to the International Space Station, and the two have flown on different spacecraft each time.
During his Navy career, Wilmore flew A-7E Corsair IIs and F/A-18 Hornets, including 21 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. His first time flying in space was a space shuttle mission to the ISS in 2009 for an 11-day stay. He returned to the ISS on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2014 for a long-duration mission.
Williams flew H-46 Sea Knight helicopters in support of Operations Desert Shield and Provide Comfort and later served in the Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Directorate and as an instructor at Navy Test Pilot School. She first visited the ISS via space shuttle as a member of the space station's first crewed expedition in 2000-2001. She also returned on a Soyuz in 2012, when she commanded ISS Expedition 33.
A two-stage United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch the first Starliner crew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Atlas 5s started flying in 2002, and even with the design's flawless track record of 99 successful launches, this Starliner mission will be the first time the rocket type has flown with a crew.
Boeing's Crew Space Transportation-100 Starliner capsule first flew, uncrewed, in 2019, when the capsule failed to reach the ISS. Engineers lost control due to software issues, but eventually regained control and brought the capsule back to Earth. The second uncrewed test flight did make it to the ISS and back, but NASA and Boeing discovered safety issues afterward, including weak parachute cables and tape used in the construction that turned out to be flammable.
Should Starliner successfully complete its voyage to and from the ISS, the mission would mark a major milestone in the history of human spaceflight. Here are the U.S. astronaut crews that, like Wilmore and Williams are poised to do, climbed on top of a rocket to catch on a brand-new U.S. spacecraft for the first time:
A closeup of astronaut Alan Shepard in his space suit seated inside the Mercury capsule. He is undergoing a flight simulation test with the capsule mated to the Redstone booster. (Bill Taub/NASA)
Mercury (1961)
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