NASA Astronauts Prepare for First Crewed Flight of Boeing Space Vehicle

Two astronaut test-pilots will conduct NASA’s first crewed test-flight of Boeing’s Starliner space-vehicle. The mission will take NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station, where they will live and work in Earth orbit for approximately two-weeks.

Wilmore, a veteran of two spaceflights and 178-days in space, will command the mission, while flying duties will be seen to by Williams, herself a veteran of two space missions.

Based upon current space station resources and scheduling needs, a short-duration mission with two astronaut test pilots is sufficient to gauge Starliner’s ability to safely fly operational crewed missions to and from the space station.

NASA may extend the CFT docked duration up to six months for purpose of mitigating unforeseen events that may arise during or subsequent to the Starliner crew’s trip to the station.

Boeing’s long-anticipated, oft-delayed Starliner spacecraft can accommodate up to seven passengers, or a mix of crew and cargo, for missions to low Earth orbit. The weld-less vessel is reusable up to 10 times with a six-month turnaround interval between missions.

Boeing intends to to alternate between two crew-modules for the duration of planned Starliner missions. The reusable crew-modules will be paired with new service modules—which provide propulsion and power-generation capacity for the spacecraft.

Starliner is designed to be compatible with multiple launch vehicles, to include: the Atlas V, Delta IV, and Falcon 9, as well as the in-development, Vulcan Centaur.

Unlike earlier United States space capsules which splashed-down in the ocean, Starliner will make airbag-cushioned, terrestrial landings. Five, Western U.S landing-areas will afford Starliner mission planners approximately 450 yearly landing opportunities.

FMI: https://www.boeing.com  https://www.nasa.gov