NASA and Boeing hosted a media teleconference on June 1 to provide an update on the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT) to the International Space Station – the first flight with astronauts on the company’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.
During the call, managers shared they have made the decision to stand down on a July launch attempt for CFT to take time to address recent emerging issues.
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, 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.
NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti splashed down safely in the SpaceX Dragon Freedom in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, at 4:55 p.m. EDT after 170 days in space.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts, from left, Jessica Watson, Bob Hines, and Kjell Lindgren, and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti stand outside Kennedy Space Center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building during a dry dress rehearsal on April 20, 2022. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 3:52 a.m. EDT Wednesday, April 27, for launch of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Teams decided to wave off a potential launch opportunity on April 26 until further into the week when space station positioning and orbital mechanics are more favorable. Crew-4 has another launch opportunity available Thursday, April 28, as weather continues to be a watch item heading into next week.
For a Crew-4 launch Wednesday, April 27, NASA will host a prelaunch news teleconference at approximately 9:30 p.m. Monday, April 25, with the following participants:
Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy
Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
Zeb Scoville, flight director, Flight Operations Directorate, Johnson
Jessica Jensen, vice president, customer operations and integration, SpaceX
Frank de Winne, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA
Arlena Moses, launch weather officer, U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron
Media may ask questions via phone only. The teleconference audio will stream on nasa.gov/live. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 8:30 p.m. on April 25 at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
Additional adjustments to the Crew-4 launch date may be necessary in the event inclement weather prevents an on time splashdown of the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) currently docked to the space station. Ax-1, the first all private astronaut mission to the station, now is targeted to undock from the orbital complex at 6:35 p.m. Saturday, April 23, and splashdown at 1:46 p.m. Sunday, April 24, off the coast of Florida. The Ax-1 crew and Dragon spacecraft remain healthy at station.
The Crew-4 flight will carry NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, mission commander, Robert Hines, pilot, and Jessica Watkins, mission specialist and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who will serve as a mission specialist, to the space station for a science expedition mission. The astronauts will fly a new Dragon spacecraft, named Freedom, atop a flight proven Falcon 9 rocket. Following docking of Crew-4, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission is expected to complete an approximate five-day handover with Crew-4 before undocking from the space station and returning to Earth.
The SpaceX Crew-4 Dragon arrives at Launch Pad 39A hangar. Photo credit: SpaceX
SpaceX’s brand-new Dragon spacecraft – named “Freedom” by the Crew-4 astronauts – arrived at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A today, April 16, after making the journey from SpaceX’s processing facility at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. After Dragon is mated to the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the launch vehicle will roll out to the pad and be raised to the vertical launch position.
Liftoff is scheduled for 5:26 a.m. EDT Saturday, April 23. NASA’s Crew-4 mission is the fourth crew rotation flight on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, and Bob Hines will serve as mission commander and pilot, respectively, and NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, will join as mission specialists.
NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance are targeting 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3, for launch of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) to the International Space Station.
For a launch Tuesday, meteorologists with the U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron are predicting a 60% chance of favorable weather. The primary weather concerns for launch day are the cumulus cloud rule, lightning rule and thick cloud rule violations during the instantaneous launch window.
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41. Starliner is scheduled to dock to the space station about 1:37 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 4.
NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch, launch, and docking activities for the agency’s Boeing OFT-2.
Mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):
Tuesday, Aug. 3
12:30 p.m. – NASA TV launch coverage begins for a targeted 1:20 p.m. liftoff. NASA TV will have continuous coverage through Starliner orbital insertion.
3:30 p.m. (approximately) – Postlaunch news conference on NASA TV.
Wednesday, Aug. 4
10:30 a.m. – NASA TV rendezvous and docking coverage begins.
1:37 p.m. (scheduled) – Docking
Thursday, Aug. 5
8:30 a.m. – NASA TV hatch opening coverage begins
8:40 a.m. – Hatch opening
9:40 a.m. (approximately) – Welcoming remarks
More details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program can be found by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.
Learn more about station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen near the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Photo by NASA/Joel Kowsky
NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance now are targeting 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3, for launch of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) with the International Space Station ready for the arrival of the Starliner spacecraft. NASA’s live launch coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. Docking is targeted for 1:37 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 4.
OFT-2, Boeing’s second uncrewed flight, is designed to test the end-to-end capabilities of the new system for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
On July 29, 2021, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
NASA and Boeing have elected to stand down from Friday’s launch attempt of the agency’s second Orbital Flight Test (OFT-2) mission. Currently, the earliest available launch opportunity is 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3. The International Space Station team will use the time to continue working checkouts of the newly arrived Roscosmos Nauka multipurpose laboratory module (MLM) and to ensure the station will be ready for Starliner’s arrival.
Launch preparations will resume following a final decision from the International Space Station and Commercial Crew Program teams for the next opportunity to send Starliner on its way to complete the OFT-2 mission, which will set the stage for the first Crew Flight Test.
Earlier Thursday, Starliner atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket was moved to its seaside launch pad for standard launch preparations. Teams are assessing moving the vehicle back to its Vehicle Integration Facility to protect it from weather until launch preparations resume. Starliner and Atlas V are in a safe, flight-ready configuration and do not require any near-term servicing.
The Atlas V was assembled throughout July, which included the transfer of Starliner from Boeing’s spacecraft processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch Complex 41 for mating atop the rocket.
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting Saturday, Nov. 14, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station. Managers of the Crew-1 mission held a media briefing on Oct. 28, to discuss the upcoming launch, including results from recent testing of the Falcon 9 Merlin engines following unexpected data SpaceX noted during a recent non-NASA launch.
“We’ve been working hand-in-hand with SpaceX to work through this engine anomaly,” said Steve Stich, Commercial Crew Program manager. “We have a little bit more work to do, but we see a pretty good path to get to flight.”
The unexpected data resulted in an auto-abort during engine ignition caused by early start behavior on two engines. The SpaceX team inspected the engines on the launch pad, but did not find any signs of misconfigurations, so the two engines were removed and sent to the company’s facility in McGregor, Texas, for additional testing.
Once in Texas, the team replicated the same early start behavior on the test stand. After additional inspections, the team found blockage in a passage leading to a relief valve on the gas generator caused by a masking lacquer residue that had hardened during the engine build process. Once the blockage was removed, the gas generator performance was restored to normal behavior during subsequent testing.
The team then analyzed data signatures across the Merlin fleet and found similar early start data results on two engines for the Crew-1 booster, which are being replaced.
“It was a really great find; it allowed us to fix something that is very subtle but can have some negative impact on the engine operation,” said Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX vice president of build and flight reliability. “We continue to make progress on the Dragon spacecraft. The team is processing ahead of the Nov. 14 launch attempt and everything is going well there.”
NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, along with Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on the first crew rotation mission to the space station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:49 p.m. EST on Nov. 14 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Sitting in this seat, I’m able to look at the phenomenal progress the team has been making as we’re moving toward our first full increment launch and crew capability for the International Space Station,” said Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. “It’s a really exciting timeframe for the agency, really exciting timeframe for our partners.”
Astronauts Bob Behnken and Eric Boe walk down the Crew Access Arm being built by SpaceX for Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo Credit: SpaceX
Astronauts Bob Behnken and Eric Boe walk down the Crew Access Arm being built by SpaceX for Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The access arm will be installed on the launch pad, providing a bridge between the crew access tower and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon – or Dragon 2 – spacecraft for astronauts flying to the International Space Station on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
The access arm is being readied for installation in early 2018. It will be installed 70 feet higher than the former space shuttle access arm on the launch pad’s Fixed Service Structure. SpaceX continues to modify the historic launch site from its former space shuttle days, removing more than 500,000 pounds of steel from the pad structure, including the Rotating Service Structure that was once used for accessing the payload bay of the shuttle. SpaceX also is using the modernized site to launch commercial payloads, as well as cargo resupply missions to and from the International Space Station for NASA. The first SpaceX launch from the historic Apollo and space shuttle site was this past February.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with private companies, Boeing and SpaceX, with a goal of once again flying people to and from the International Space Station, launching from the United States. Boeing is building the CST-100 Starliner to launch on an United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41. For information on Boeing and ULA’s work on Space Launch Complex 41, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/crew-access-arm-installed-for-starliner-missions.
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser completed an important step toward orbital flight on Wednesday, with a successful captive carry test at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. A helicopter successfully carried a Dream Chaser test article, which has the same specifications as a flight-ready spacecraft, to the same altitude and flight conditions of an upcoming free flight test.
The captive carry is part of a series of tests for a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The data from the tests help SNC validate the aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance of the Dream Chaser.
The Dream Chaser is a lifting-body, winged spacecraft that will fly back to Earth in a manner similar to NASA’s space shuttles. The successful captive carry test clears the way for a free flight test of the spacecraft later this year in which the uncrewed Dream Chaser will be released to glide on its own and land.
The test campaign will also help finalize the design for cargo version of the Dream Chaser in preparation for the spacecraft to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six resupply missions to and from the space station by 2024.
