Month: February 2023

NASA Astronauts Perform Key Testing with Starliner Spacecraft

Crew Equipment Interface Test for NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test
From left, NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, along with Boeing Starliner Crew and Cargo Accommodations Subsystem Engineer Deanna “Dee” Dobson, review cargo items for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. Photo credit: Boeing/John Proferes

Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams, the NASA astronauts who will fly to the International Space Station on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT), completed the first part of a critical two-part Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) this week.

During CEIT, Wilmore and Williams, along with NASA astronaut and backup test pilot Mike Fincke, performed hands-on training with the tools, equipment, and hardware they will use on orbit. They worked with the Starliner team to perform in-cabin checkouts, including adjusting the spacecraft seats, inspecting spacecraft interfaces, examining cargo, and conducting floor panel and side hatch operations.

The second part of the test is scheduled to occur in early March, and will include the astronauts maneuvering inside the cabin with cargo installed in the spacecraft.

Wilmore and Williams are slated to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex-41 in Florida no earlier than mid-to-late April 2023. They will fly aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, powered by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The Crew Flight Test will demonstrate the ability of Starliner and the Atlas V rocket to safely carry astronauts to and from the space station. Following a successful test flight with astronauts, NASA will begin the final process of certifying the Starliner spacecraft and systems for regular crew rotation flights to the space station.

NASA, Boeing Provide Update on First Crewed Starliner Flight Test

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was moved into the Hazardous Processing Area at the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 8, 2023, in advance of power up and fueling operations. NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test will demonstrate the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system to carry astronaut to and from the International Space Station.
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was moved into the Hazardous Processing Area at the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 8, 2023, in advance of power up and fueling operations. Photo credit: NASA

NASA and Boeing held a mission overview media teleconference Friday to provide a status update on the first astronaut flight test of the company’s CST-100 Starliner to the International Space Station.

During the call, managers shared mission progress and discussed upcoming milestones ahead of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT), which is targeted to launch no earlier than mid-to-late April to the microgravity laboratory.

A replay of the teleconference is available on NASA’s YouTube channel.

CFT is the final flight test prior to regular crewed missions to the space station on the next-generation system. For CFT, the Starliner spacecraft will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, returning approximately eight days later in White Sands, New Mexico. The flight will carry two NASA astronaut test pilots, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams, on the demonstration flight to prove the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system.

Following a successful test flight with astronauts, NASA will begin the final process of certifying the Starliner spacecraft and systems for regular crew rotation flights to the space station.