Elyna Niles-Carnes – Page 9 – Kennedy Space Center

NASA Astronauts Complete Key Rehearsal Before Boeing Crew Flight Test

From left to right, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore pose for photos at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida following their arrival for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

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 Flight Test Readiness Review Concludes, Teleconference to Follow

Mission managers with NASA, Boeing, and United Launch Alliance gather on Thursday, April 25, 2024, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to complete a Flight Test Readiness Review for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. Photo credit: NASA/Mike Chambers

NASA concluded its Flight Test Readiness Review for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test and teams are proceeding toward a planned launch at 10:34 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 6, to the International Space Station. The mission will transport NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to and from the space station of the first flight with crew to certify the Starliner and its system for regular crew rotation missions.

At 4:30 p.m., NASA will host a media teleconference (no less than one hour following completion of the readiness review) with the following participants:

Jim Free, NASA associate administrator
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Dana Weigel, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
Mark Nappi, vice president and manager, Boeing Commercial Crew Program
Emily Nelson, NASA chief flight director

The media teleconference will air live on the agency’s website.

Next up is a mission dress rehearsal on Friday, April 26, for NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance). Wilmore and Williams, commander and pilot, will mimic launch day operations. The astronauts load in their spacesuits, walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, and get into Boeing’s Astrovan to travel to the spacecraft. Teams will practice countdown scenarios, prep Starliner’s crew module for flight, close the hatch, and conduct readiness polls of managers and engineers.

Wilmore and Williams are the first to launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner on an Atlas V rocket. 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.

Dreams Become Reality for NASA’s Boeing Flight Test Crew

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams hug after arriving at the Launch and Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Chris Stevens

Momentum is building for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test launch, scheduled for Monday, May 6, 2024.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived in a T-38 jet 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.

NASA leaders welcomed Wilmore and Williams and held a short news conference.

“Our hearts and souls are in this spacecraft and a little part of us will be lifting off with Butch and Suni,” said NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Deputy Manager Dana Hutcherson, who has been with the program for 13 years.

Wilmore and Williams are targeting 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6, for launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and ULA’s (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This will be the first crewed flight of Starliner for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Click below to watch the earlier broadcast of the welcome ceremony.

NASA, Boeing Crew Lands in Florida for Starliner Mission

NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test Crew Butch Wilmore (left), and Suni Williams (right) arrive in Florida on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA

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.

NASA, Boeing Crew Fly Jet to Florida for Starliner Launch

Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT) astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in T-38 pre-flight activities at Ellington Field. Photo Date: August 16, 2022. Location: Ellington Field, Hangar 276/Flight Line. Photographer: Robert Markowitz

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.

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Begins Stacking Operations

Boeing's Starliner set to carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station passes the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center — Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, set to carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station, passes in front of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA teams joined Boeing on April 16 to move the Starliner spacecraft out of the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the launch site.

Technicians lifted and connected the spacecraft to the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are the first to launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6, from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex-41. 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.

After successful completion of the mission, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station.

Wilmore and Williams will wrap up flight preparations in Houston and arrive at NASA Kennedy no earlier than Thursday, April 25.

Learn more about the 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, SpaceX Target New Launch Date for NOAA Weather Satellite

NASA and SpaceX now are targeting Tuesday, June 25, for the launch of GOES-U, the fourth and final satellite in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) – R Series. The new launch date allowed time for teams to fully repair and test the Falcon Heavy core booster after a liquid oxygen leak was identified during routine new booster testing in February. NASA and SpaceX teams have resumed preparation of the GOES-U launch. GOES-U will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NOAA oversees the GOES-R Series Program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office, managing the ground system, operating the satellites, and distributing their data to users worldwide. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center manages the acquisition of the spacecraft and instruments and also built the Magnetometer instrument for GOES-T and GOES-U. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center manages the launch services for the GOES missions. Lockheed Martin designs, builds, and tests the GOES-R series satellites. L3Harris Technologies provides the primary instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager, along with the ground system, which includes the antenna system for data reception.

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Stacking Up For Launch

Crews raise a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to a vertical position at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) are readying the rocket that will launch the first crewed flight of the Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands vertical, awaiting integration with the rocket’s Centaur upper stage and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner after moving inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

The ULA Atlas V rocket was moved into the company’s Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, which starts the preparations for its stacking operations ahead of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test.

The rocket’s main stage was transferred from the nearby Advanced Spaceflight Operations Center to the integration facility Wednesday, Feb. 21, where it will await integration with the rocket’s upper Centaur stage and Starliner. The spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the orbiting laboratory for a short stay of about one to two weeks before returning to a landing site in the southwest United States.

The mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system, including launch, docking, and a return to Earth. After successful completion of the mission, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station.

NASA and Boeing are targeting no earlier than late April for launch. Starliner completed two uncrewed flight tests, including Orbital Flight Test-2, which docked to the space station on May 21, 2022, and provided valuable data leading up to its first crewed flight.

Details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program can be found by following the commercial crew blog, X, and Facebook.

Weather Clears for PACE Launch

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft stands vertical at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft stands vertical at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. PACE is NASA’s newest earth-observing satellite that will help increase our understanding of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate by delivering hyperspectral observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton as well new data on clouds and aerosols. Liftoff of the PACE mission is set for no earlier than 1:33 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX

Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict 95% favorable weather conditions for the launch of NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The launch has been delayed two times due to unfavorable weather conditions near the Space Coast. For the primary launch window early Thursday morning, the only concern is a very low risk of a Cumulus Cloud Rule violation.

Liftoff continues to be targeted for 1:33 a.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 8, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space in Florida.

Follow along here on the blog as the countdown continues, or watch live coverage at 12:45 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 8 on the NASA+ streaming service, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, as well as YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including these accounts on social media:

X: @NASA, @NASA_LSP, @NASAEarth, @NASAKennedy, @NASAGoddard  
Facebook: NASA, NASA’s Launch Services Program, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center 
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASAGoddard 

Weather 50% For Launch of NASA’s Ocean, Atmosphere, Climate Mission

PACE spacecraft atop SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft stands vertical at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX

Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict 50% favorable weather conditions for the launch of NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

A very windy day is in store today as the low pressure system that impacted Central Florida the last couple of days pushes eastward. Winds will begin to decrease in the overnight hours. The main concern will be liftoff winds, with a smaller chance of a Cumulus Cloud Rule violation, according to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron.

Liftoff continues to be targeted for 1:33 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 7, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space in Florida.

Follow along here on the blog as the countdown continues, or watch live coverage on the NASA+ streaming service, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, as well as YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including these accounts on social media: