The first astronaut mission for Boeing’s Starliner capsule will last a little longer than we thought.
Starliner launched on June 5, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) in a cruise called Crew Flight Test (CFT).
Wilmore and Williams arrived at the orbiting laboratory on June 6 for a stay of about a week, or so we thought. NASA announced over the weekend that the duo and Starliner will spend a few more days beyond Earth.
“NASA and BoeingSpace teams have scheduled a return no later than Tuesday, June 18 for the agency’s Boeing crew flight test. The additional time in orbit will allow the crew to perform a spacewalk on Thursday, June 13, while engineers complete #Starliner systems checks,” space station officials said. NASA International He said on Sunday (June 9) via X.
Related: Boeing Starliner astronaut’s first flight: Live updates
The CFT is Starliner’s third spaceflight, following uncrewed test flights to the International Space Station in December 2019 and May 2022.
The Starliner suffered numerous errors on that maiden flight and failed to rendezvous with the orbiting laboratory as planned. The capsule succeeded on its second attempt, paving the way for the CFT.
However, the historic manned mission encountered several obstacles on the way to the launch pad. For example, engineers discovered problems with the Starliner’s parachute system and its wiring, most of which turned out to be wrapped in flammable tape. Troubleshooting these issues and testing fixes pushed the CFT release date to the right.
Starliner also encountered problems during CFT, including small helium leaks and a few misbehaving thrusters. But these problems are minor, mission team members say, and have been successfully addressed so far.
If all goes well with the CFT program, Starliner will be certified to fly six-month astronaut missions to and from the International Space Station for NASA. SpaceX is already doing this with its Dragon capsule; Elon Musk’s company is in the middle of its eighth long-distance crewed flight to the International Space Station, known as Crew-8.
The two companies won contracts to provide this ferry service from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program in 2014. Boeing received $4.2 billion, and SpaceX received $2.6 billion.
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