Category: Commercial Spaceflight

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be the first to fly aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station, and the name of the spacecraft ferrying them to the orbiting laboratory holds a special place in Williams’ heart.

Williams named the crew capsule Calypso in 2019 to pay tribute to the explorer Jacques Cousteau, who sailed across the world on his own ship named bearing the same name. Cousteau’s goal was to learn about the ocean and teach others about the wonders of the sea. Williams believes Starliner can do the same for space.

The Starliner spacecraft, with a diameter of 15 feet (4.56 meters), can carry up to four astronauts, or a mix of crew and cargo, for NASA missions to low Earth orbit for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

The spacecraft, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, is scheduled for liftoff at 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Launch preparations are moving full steam ahead to send two NASA astronauts aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft for the first time to the International Space Station. NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) recently completed a start-to-finish mission dress rehearsal on April 26, for the upcoming Crew Flight Test. 

The mission will launch NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, on Boeing’s Starliner on a ULA Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:34 p.m. EDT, Monday, May 6. 

During the dress rehearsal, Wilmore and Williams completed a series of launch day milestones including suiting up, working in a flight deck simulator, and operating the same software that will be used during the launch. After loading out Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and convoyed to the Vertical Integration Facility at nearby Cape Canaveral to run through countdown procedures with the integrated Atlas V rocket and Starliner stack. 

The crew will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before the crew capsule returns to Earth, making a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States. 

After successful completion of the mission, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crew rotation missions to the space station. The Starliner capsule, with a diameter of 15 feet (4.56m) and the capability to steer automatically or manually, will carry four astronauts, or a mix of crew and cargo, for NASA missions to low Earth orbit. 

Learn more about NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test by following the mission blog, the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams landed April 25, at the Launch and Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a short flight from Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Paying homage to their piloting days as retired U.S. Navy captains, they flew to Kennedy in a T-38 jet. 

As part of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, Wilmore and Williams are the first to launch aboard the company’s Starliner spacecraft on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station. 

Shortly after 1 p.m. EDT, NASA leaders will hold a brief welcome ceremony with the following participants:

• Jennifer Kunz, associate director, NASA Kennedy 
• Dana Hutcherson, deputy manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program 
• NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore 
• NASA astronaut Suni Williams

The welcome ceremony will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.  

Meanwhile, NASA, Boeing, and ULA representatives are participating in the agency’s Flight Test Readiness Review at NASA Kennedy. The two-day event, which is scheduled to conclude April 25, verifies the mission readiness, including all systems, facilities, and teams that will support the launch.  

Liftoff is scheduled for 10:34 p.m. Monday, May 6, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The astronauts will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before the crew capsule makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States. 

Learn more about NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test by following the mission blog, the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook. 

The two NASA astronauts that will fly aboard a new spacecraft for the first time to the International Space Station are on their way on Thursday to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin final launch preparations. 

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are targeting 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6, for launch of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. 

As retired U.S. Navy captains, Wilmore and Williams are flying on a T-38 jet from Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for the short flight to Kennedy’s Launch and Landing Facility. 

At 1 p.m., NASA will host a crew arrival event at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the following participants:

• Jennifer Kunz, associate director, NASA Kennedy 
• Dana Hutcherson, deputy manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program 
• NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore 
• NASA astronaut Suni Williams

The arrival will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media. 

Following launch, the astronauts will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before the crew capsule makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States. 

Learn more about NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test by following the mission blog, the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.