Washington, DC [US], The launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which was scheduled to carry NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore to the International Space Station (ISS), on Monday (local time) suffered a valve failure in the upper stage. It was postponed after disturbances. Rocket ready to take off The decision was announced by the United States, NASA announced. Social Media Platform The observation was made due to a malfunction of the oxygen relief valve in the second stage of the Atlas V rocket Centaur. The crew and rocket are safe and more details will be revealed. It said NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams exited the Starline spacecraft at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and will return to astronaut crew quarters.This will be the first manned flight for Starliner, with India-born Sunita "Suni" Williams piloting the aircraft along with fellow NASA pilot Barr "Butch" Wilmore. Boeing designed Starliner as a rival to Elon Musk's SpaceX Dragon capsule, which conducted its crewed flight test in May 2020. Since then Space has handled most of NASA's crew transportation needs.
However, just two hours before the scheduled launch, a valve malfunction in the rocket's upper stage forced mission managers to abort the mission. It was a disappointing blow for Wilmore and Williams, both experienced astronauts who had been to space on two previous trips aboard the NASA Space Shuttle and the Russian Soyuz mission and had impressive backgrounds in naval aviation.People's disappointment was palpable as they left their seats, their hopes of flying in space momentarily dashed, reports CBS News, coinciding with Sunita Williams sharing her love of the ocean and famed explorer Jacques The spacecraft is named "Calypso" in reference to Cousteau's ship. , who sailed around the world on their ship of the same name, despite setbacks, the experienced pair maintained their composure, knowing that space travel requires patience and flexibility. Wearing their distinctive Bowen pressure suits, Wilmore and Williams awaited news of the next launch window, ready to begin their celestial journey at the earliest opportunity, CBS News reports aboard the Atlas 5 rocket, which was Renowned for reliability, it was ready for its milestones. 100th flight – To launch Boeing's Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starline spacecraft. According to ULA, the plan was that after separation from Atlas 5, the Starline engines would burn carrying it the rest of the way to orbit and the International Space Station.Atlas 5 had successfully launched scientific spacecraft to Mars on five separate occasions, as well as research probes to the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, asteroid Bennu, and Pluto. Atlas 5 consists of two major components: a booster and the Centaur, called the upper stage. The Starliner sits on top of the Centaur, which in turn rests on the booster. The booster powers everything from Launchpad. Centaur is designed to separate from the booster during flight, which will place Starliner into the appropriate orbit.Then, the Starliner separates from the Centaur and takes off on its own. It has delivered U.S. national security assets into space, launched weather observatories on which all Americans depend, and deployed commercial satellites to connect the world. Williams, selected by NASA as an astronaut in June 1998, spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions and accumulated 50 hours and 40 minutes of cumulative EVA time on seven spacewalks. Williams worked with Roscosmos contributing to the space station and the first expeditionary force. Meanwhile, Wilmore, 61, has spent 178 days in space and logged 25 hours and 36 minutes on four spacewalks, with NASA waiting half a decade for Starliner to launch a flight crew, CNN reports. The development of the Starliner was beset by years of delays, setbacks, and blunders.More broadly, Boeing as a company has faced years of scandals in its aircraft division, which have tarnished the legacy aerospace giant's brand. If successful, the crewed test flight could put Boeing in line to begin regular trips to the space station on NASA's behalf. Boeing already plans six manned missions for the platform over the next six years, the projected end of the ISS's operational lifespan. NASA plans to send astronauts from U.S. soil at least every six months with SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's Starliner is planned to use both. Both Boeing and SpaceX were given responsibility by NASA in 2014 to send commercial crew missions to the ISS. Boeing received more than US$4 billion in US federal funds to develop Starliner, while SpaceX received approximately US$2.6 billion.
However, just two hours before the scheduled launch, a valve malfunction in the rocket's upper stage forced mission managers to abort the mission. It was a disappointing blow for Wilmore and Williams, both experienced astronauts who had been to space on two previous trips aboard the NASA Space Shuttle and the Russian Soyuz mission and had impressive backgrounds in naval aviation.People's disappointment was palpable as they left their seats, their hopes of flying in space momentarily dashed, reports CBS News, coinciding with Sunita Williams sharing her love of the ocean and famed explorer Jacques The spacecraft is named "Calypso" in reference to Cousteau's ship. , who sailed around the world on their ship of the same name, despite setbacks, the experienced pair maintained their composure, knowing that space travel requires patience and flexibility. Wearing their distinctive Bowen pressure suits, Wilmore and Williams awaited news of the next launch window, ready to begin their celestial journey at the earliest opportunity, CBS News reports aboard the Atlas 5 rocket, which was Renowned for reliability, it was ready for its milestones. 100th flight – To launch Boeing's Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starline spacecraft. According to ULA, the plan was that after separation from Atlas 5, the Starline engines would burn carrying it the rest of the way to orbit and the International Space Station.Atlas 5 had successfully launched scientific spacecraft to Mars on five separate occasions, as well as research probes to the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, asteroid Bennu, and Pluto. Atlas 5 consists of two major components: a booster and the Centaur, called the upper stage. The Starliner sits on top of the Centaur, which in turn rests on the booster. The booster powers everything from Launchpad. Centaur is designed to separate from the booster during flight, which will place Starliner into the appropriate orbit.Then, the Starliner separates from the Centaur and takes off on its own. It has delivered U.S. national security assets into space, launched weather observatories on which all Americans depend, and deployed commercial satellites to connect the world. Williams, selected by NASA as an astronaut in June 1998, spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions and accumulated 50 hours and 40 minutes of cumulative EVA time on seven spacewalks. Williams worked with Roscosmos contributing to the space station and the first expeditionary force. Meanwhile, Wilmore, 61, has spent 178 days in space and logged 25 hours and 36 minutes on four spacewalks, with NASA waiting half a decade for Starliner to launch a flight crew, CNN reports. The development of the Starliner was beset by years of delays, setbacks, and blunders.More broadly, Boeing as a company has faced years of scandals in its aircraft division, which have tarnished the legacy aerospace giant's brand. If successful, the crewed test flight could put Boeing in line to begin regular trips to the space station on NASA's behalf. Boeing already plans six manned missions for the platform over the next six years, the projected end of the ISS's operational lifespan. NASA plans to send astronauts from U.S. soil at least every six months with SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's Starliner is planned to use both. Both Boeing and SpaceX were given responsibility by NASA in 2014 to send commercial crew missions to the ISS. Boeing received more than US$4 billion in US federal funds to develop Starliner, while SpaceX received approximately US$2.6 billion.
