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After a nearly month-long delay, NASA and its mission partners say it’s almost time to send two astronauts to the International Space Station for a Boeing crew flight test. The historic launch, originally canceled on May 6 and June 1 and delayed several times in between, will be the first time humans fly on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Here’s everything you need to know about the historic Starliner mission scheduled to launch on Wednesday. >>> Click here to watch the live broadcast. About the Mission: In this mission, two NASA astronauts will travel to the International Space Station in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which will sit aboard a United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. Officials say it will take about a week for astronauts to get there. The purpose of the mission is to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems, including maneuvering and docking, before NASA can certify the spacecraft for orbital missions. When is the launch? The Starliner mission is scheduled to lift off at 10:52 a.m. on Wednesday, June 5. Where will the launch take place? The Atlas V rocket and Starliner spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Who are the astronauts? The flight test for the Boeing crew will be the first time humans fly on the Starliner, which has flown in the past without passengers. Veteran astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams will be on board. Wilmore will be the mission commander and has been a NASA astronaut since July 2000. He is a veteran. On two space flights. She will be the mission commander and has been a NASA astronaut since 1998. She is a veteran of two space missions. The two astronauts returned home after numerous mission delays but returned to Central Florida last week for a launch attempt that was canceled on June 1. As of last check on Wednesday morning, the two astronauts were in place inside the spacecraft. The two will spend eight days on the International Space Station if everything goes as planned. Why was the mission delayed? When the original flight was recalled on May 6, officials cited the cause as a mechanical problem involving a “self-regulating solenoid relief valve for liquid oxygen in the Centaur upper stage” on the Atlas V rocket. Officials returned the rocket to the Cape Canaveral Space Force’s Vertical Integration Facility and successfully replaced the pressure-regulating valve, which prevents the oxygen tank from building up too much pressure. The launch was postponed to May 17 to allow for further testing but was pushed back to May 21 when Boeing said Starliner teams were working to resolve a small helium leak discovered in the spacecraft’s service module. Subsequently, the launch was postponed to May 25 when officials announced that they once again needed more time to resolve the issue. Ultimately, officials said they would abandon the May 25 launch attempt altogether. It was put on hold until officials said they were ready to attempt a launch on June 1. On Saturday, the countdown was going smoothly, when officials suddenly canceled the launch just minutes before liftoff. The sudden removal was caused by the failure of some ground support equipment. ULA said its teams worked through the night to identify the problem and were able to replace the faulty power supply system in ground operations computers. In a recent inspection, ULA said the system is now operational. Normal performance after a number of function tests. Where can I watch the launch in person? There will be multiple viewing locations for the Boeing Starliner spacecraft launch experience. Some include: Playalinda Beach, Space Launch Complex 1, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Max Brewer Bridge, Port CanaveralKelly ParkCocoa Beach pierTo learn more about all the personal viewing sites, click here. Where can I watch the launch online? WESH 2 will stream the entire launch from wesh.com, our free WESH 2 app and on WESH Facebook. The free WESH 2 app is available in the iTunes App Store for iOS devices and in the Google Play Store for Android devices.
After a nearly month-long delay, NASA and its mission partners say it’s almost time to send two astronauts to the International Space Station for a Boeing crew flight test.
The historic launch, which was originally canceled on May 6 and June 1 and postponed several times in between, will be the first time humans fly on board Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
Here’s everything you need to know about the historic Starliner mission scheduled to launch on Wednesday.
>>> Click here to watch the live broadcast.
About the mission:
In this mission, two NASA astronauts will travel to the International Space Station in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which will sit aboard a United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket.
Officials say it will take about a week for astronauts to get there.
The purpose of the mission is to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems, including maneuvering and docking, before NASA can certify the spacecraft for orbital missions.
When is the launch?
The Starliner mission is scheduled to lift off at 10:52 a.m. on Wednesday, June 5.
Where is the start?
The Atlas V rocket and Starliner spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Who are the astronauts?
The Boeing crew flight test will be the first time humans fly on the Starliner, which has flown in the past without passengers.
Two veteran NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams, will be on board.
Wilmore will be the mission commander and has been a NASA astronaut since July 2000. He is a veteran of two spaceflights.
Williams will be the mission commander and has been a NASA astronaut since 1998. She is a veteran of two space missions.
The two astronauts returned home after numerous mission delays, but returned to Central Florida last week for the canceled June 1 launch attempt.
Until the last check on Wednesday morning, the two astronauts were inside the spacecraft.
The two will spend eight days on the International Space Station if everything goes as planned.
Why was the mission delayed?
When the original scrub was recalled on May 6, officials cited the cause as a mechanical problem involving a “self-regulating solenoid relief valve for liquid oxygen in the Centaur upper stage” on the Atlas V rocket.
Officials returned the rocket to the Cape Canaveral Space Force’s Vertical Integration Facility and successfully replaced the pressure regulating valve, which prevents the oxygen tank from building up too much pressure.
The launch was postponed to May 17 to allow for further testing but was pushed back to May 21 when Boeing said Starliner teams were working to resolve a small helium leak discovered in the spacecraft’s service module.
The launch was then postponed to May 25 when officials announced that they again needed more time to resolve the issue.
Ultimately, officials said they would completely abandon the launch attempt scheduled for May 25.
The launch was put on hold indefinitely until officials said they were ready to attempt a launch on June 1.
Last week, mission partners conducted a “go” survey to move forward with launch plans and launched an Atlas V rocket to the launch pad for the first time since the original launch.
On Saturday, the countdown was going smoothly, when officials suddenly canceled the launch just minutes before liftoff. The sudden rub was due to the failure of some ground support equipment.
ULA said its teams worked through the night to identify the problem and were able to replace the faulty power supply system in ground operations computers.
In a recent inspection, ULA said the system is now operating normally after a number of functionality tests.
Where can I watch the launch in person?
There will be multiple viewing locations for the Boeing Starliner spacecraft launch experience. Some include:
- Playalinda Beach
- Space Launch Complex 1
- Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
- Max Breuer Bridge
- Port Canaveral
- Kelly Park
- Cocoa Beach Pier
To learn more about all the personal viewing sites, click here.
Where can I watch the launch online?
WESH 2 will stream the entire launch from wesh.com, our free WESH 2 app and on What is Facebook?.
The free WESH 2 app is available in the iTunes App Store for iOS and Android devices Google Play Store For Android devices.
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