CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Boeing successfully launched astronauts for the first time on Wednesday, finally joining SpaceX as a second taxi service for NASA. NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, marking the first manned flight of the new spacecraft.
The journey to the International Space Station is expected to take 25 hours, with an arrival on Thursday. Wilmore and Williams will spend just over a week at the orbiting lab before returning to Earth with a planned desert touchdown in the western U.S. on June 14.
“Let’s get going!” Wilmore called out just minutes before liftoff.
Half an hour later, both astronauts were safely in orbit, beginning their chase to the space station. At Cape Canaveral, relieved launch controllers applauded. Despite the many challenges leading up to Wednesday’s launch, including two scrapped countdowns, the mission proceeded smoothly, earning congratulations from SpaceX’s Elon Musk and others.
“Today it all lined up,” said Boeing program manager Mark Nappi.
Years late due to spacecraft flaws, Starliner’s crew debut comes as Boeing grapples with unrelated safety issues on its airplane side. Wilmore and Williams, both retired Navy captains and former space station residents, expressed full confidence in Boeing’s ability to succeed with this test flight. Starliner’s initial 2019 test flight without a crew, hindered by software issues, required a repeat before NASA would allow astronauts onboard. The 2022 do-over went better, though parachute problems and flammable tape later emerged.
Wednesday’s launch was the third attempt with astronauts since early May, delayed by rocket-related issues and a minor helium leak in the spacecraft’s propulsion system.
“It’s just a tough endeavor to get to flight and huge kudos to the entire team for getting there,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager.
NASA contracted both Boeing and Elon Musk’s SpaceX a decade ago to transport astronauts to and from the space station following the space shuttles’ retirement. NASA invested $4.2 billion in Boeing and over half that amount in SpaceX, which repurposed its supply capsule for human missions. SpaceX launched astronauts into orbit in 2020, becoming the first private company to achieve this milestone, previously mastered only by Russia, the U.S., and China. Since then, SpaceX has completed nine crewed missions for NASA and three for private groups.
The launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station marked the 100th Atlas V mission for United Launch Alliance and the first time astronauts had ridden an Atlas rocket since John Glenn’s Mercury mission over 60 years ago. Despite the Atlas V’s perfect record, the human presence heightened tension for NASA and Boeing employees.
Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Dragon capsules are designed to be fully autonomous and reusable. Wilmore and Williams will test Starliner’s systems by occasionally taking manual control. An early flight issue involved the capsule’s cooling system using more water than expected before the radiators took over. The tank will be refilled before the return trip.
If the mission succeeds, NASA plans to alternate between SpaceX and Boeing for crewed flights starting next year. Backup pilot Mike Fincke is set to fly on Starliner’s next mission.
“This is exciting. We built up to this moment for years and years, and it finally happened,” said Fincke from neighboring Kennedy Space Center. “I feel like the whole planet was cheering for them.”
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
