NASA had initially postponed the first manned test flight of the Starliner spacecraft, expected to take place on May 6, due to a faulty valve, rescheduling it to May 17. When a comprehensive inspection was initiated to replace the problematic valve on the Starliner rocket, a helium leak was also noticed. After nearly two weeks of inspection, NASA announced a new date of June 1, despite the ongoing helium leak. However, today’s expected launch faced another issue. Here are the details…
Is the Starliner still not ready for its first manned test flight?
NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams had to disembark from the Starliner spacecraft for the second time this month. The Starliner was again unable to launch for its first manned test flight, which was expected to take place today.
NASA astronauts had to leave the spacecraft due to a problem that arose less than four minutes before the launch. It was later revealed that the ground launch computer, which took over the countdown in the final minutes, automatically issued a stop signal.
Boeing's first crewed space flight was postponed just two hours before launch. Let's take a look at the reason and details together.
NASA announced that the Starliner launch date has not been postponed too much this time. According to the new announcement, the Starliner will be launched on June 2 at 19:03 Turkey time. Boeing’s Lauren Brennecke made a statement about the constantly delayed launch for various reasons:
“Of course, this is disappointing, but it is part of the job. The ultimate goal is to ensure that our valuable cargo, Butch and Suni, are safe.”
The Starliner, which succeeded in landing on land instead of the ocean during unmanned test flights, will be closely watched to see what it will achieve in its first manned mission. However, until now, there has always been a reason to postpone the date set for the first manned test flight.
The Starliner will be launched tomorrow with the Atlas V rocket, which will carry NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS). Do you think the launch will be postponed once again?
