The First crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule More than two weeks after its original scheduled flight date, it still hasn’t launched, and there’s currently no word on when it will. In an emailed statement to members of the press late Tuesday, NASA announced that it had canceled the launch attempt, which had been scheduled for May 25. Starliner’s first crewed mission has already been modified several times, but in this case NASA has not set a new plan. launch date. “NASA will share more details once it finds a more precise path,” the agency said in a statement. SpaceNews.
Earlier in the month, the first attempt was scuppered due to the discovery of a faulty oxygen relief valve on the ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the Starliner. Engineers replaced the valve and the Starliner was supposed to fly later that week, but that attempt was also postponed. On May 14 NASA It revealed that engineers were working to fix a helium leak in the spacecraft’s propulsion system. In an update a few days later, NASA said the leak was “stable and would not pose this level of risk during flight.” At that time, a new target release date was set and eventually rescheduled once again, but it seems the problems persist.
“The team has been in consecutive meetings for two days, evaluating flight justification, system performance and redundancy,” the agency’s latest update said. SpaceNews. “There is still work ahead in these areas and the next possible launch is still under discussion.” Delays have defined Starliner’s development up to this point, but since two astronauts — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — will be aboard for this mission, the stakes are especially high; now is not the time to start cutting corners.
