Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft approaches the International Space Station for docking on June 6, 2024. Credit: NASA TV
NASA’s coverage of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft flight to the International Space Station continues on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. The Starliner spacecraft is performing its careful approach to the space station with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. After conducting a series of reaction control system thruster tests, four thrusters were recovered from five that had gone out. The spacecraft will conduct a planned hold at 10 meters from its station docking port to assess readiness. The second docking window opens at 1:33 p.m. ET.
Boeing’s Starliner crew ship approaches the space station during the company’s uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 mission on May 20, 2022.
NASA’s arrival coverage of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station is now underway on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Docking is scheduled at approximately 12:15 p.m. EDT Thursday, June 6.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched safely on the Starliner spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 10:52 a.m. June 5 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The Starliner crew continues to make their way to the space station. During flight, Wilmore and Williams successfully performed manual piloting demonstrations of Starliner and completed a sleep period. Prior to crew sleep, mission teams identified three helium leaks in the spacecraft. One of these was previously discussed before flight along with a management plan, and the other two are new since the spacecraft arrived in orbit. To monitor and manage these leaks, the three helium manifolds were isolated. Those manifolds have all been reopened prior to a Starliner height adjust burn, called NHPC. All affected manifolds will remain open for rendezvous and docking operations.
Following in-flight reviews of the mission and helium leaks, the Starliner and International Space Station mission management teams are “go” to proceed with space station arrival. The flight control team will continue to monitor the leak rates in Starliner’s propulsion system. After docking, all of Starliner manifolds will be closed per normal plans. All other Starliner systems are functioning normally.
NASA’s arrival and in-flight event coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
12:15 p.m. – Targeted docking
2 p.m. – Hatch opening
2:20 p.m. – Welcome remarks
3:30 p.m. – Post-docking news conference at NASA Johnson with the following participants:
NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Jeff Arend, manager for systems engineering and integration, NASA’s International Space Station Office
Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing
Coverage of the post-docking news conference will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
To attend the post-docking briefing, U.S. media must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom at: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111 by 1 p.m. June 6. To join by phone, media must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom by 3 p.m. June 6.
5:50 p.m. – NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Associate Administrator Jim Free, Associate Administrator for Space Operations Ken Bowersox, and Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche will speak with Wilmore and Williams about their launch aboard the Starliner spacecraft.
Coverage of the Earth to space call will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a Boeing Starliner spacecraft launches NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station!
The capsule, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, is expected to reach the orbiting laboratory at 12:15 p.m. EDT, Thursday, June 6.
A postlaunch news conference will be held at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. with the following participants:
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing
Tory Bruno, president and CEO, ULA
Coverage of the postlaunch news conference will air live on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
Once the postlaunch news conference is complete, NASA+ coverage will end, and mission coverage will continue on both NASA channels. NASA+ coverage will resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, June 6, as Starliner approaches the space station for a docking to the forward-facing port of the Harmony module.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket booster separates from the Centaur upper stage carrying Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Photo credit: NASA Television
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket booster has separated from the Centaur upper stage carrying Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The Centaur will continue to help propel Boeing’s Starliner to a suborbit before the spacecraft boosts itself to orbit, bringing it closer to the International Space Station.
Measuring 10 feet in diameter and 41.5 feet in length, the Centaur upper stage uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its twin Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A-4-2 engines. The burn of the Centaur’s dual engines is expected to last a little more than seven minutes before engine cutoff and separation from Starliner. Following separation, the crew capsule carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be on its own for the remainder of the journey to the space station.
Following its separation, the Atlas Centaur will land in the ocean near Australia.
NASA Television will provide continuous coverage leading up to docking at the space station and through hatch opening and welcome remarks.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing’s Starliner capsule with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams has reached Max Q. The milestone is the moment of peak aerodynamic pressure on the rocket.
Following Max Q will be Atlas V booster engine cutoff and separation.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket soars from the pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 a.m. ET Wednesday, June 5, 2024, carrying a Boeing Starliner spacecraft for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA Television
We have liftoff! The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, carrying Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, are on a course to the International Space Station.
The crew is on a roughly 25.5-hour journey with rendezvous and docking expected at 12:15 p.m. EDT, Thursday, June 6.
The crew flight test mission makes history in several ways. As the first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, Williams is the first female astronaut to fly on the first flight of a crewed spacecraft. The launch also marks the first crewed launch on the ULA Atlas V rocket and the first crewed launch on an Atlas-family class rocket since Gordon Cooper on the last Mercury program flight aboard “Faith 7” in May 1963.
Next up is Max Q, or the moment of peak aerodynamic pressure on the rocket.
Launch coverage on NASA+ will end shortly after Starliner orbital insertion, happening about 30 minutes from now. NASA Television will provide continuous coverage leading up to docking at the space station and through hatch opening and welcome remarks.
The crew access arm retracts from Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida ahead of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
We’re just minutes away from liftoff of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test that will send NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
At Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the crew access arm has retracted on the crew access tower.
The crew access arm lines up with the hatch of Boeing’s Starliner capsule, and it’s designed to rotate and retract at various speeds. The arm provides entry and emergency egress for astronauts and technicians into and out of the spacecraft.
Liftoff of Boeing’s Starliner on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket remains on schedule for 10:52 a.m. EDT.
Boeing crews close the hatch to the Starliner capsule carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Photo credit: NASA Television
Just about one hour remains ahead of liftoff of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station.
Communication checks with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are complete. The hatch is now closed on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, named Calypso. Next up, a series of cabin leak checks and a cabin pressurization check will be completed.
For NASA missions to low Earth orbit, the Starliner capsule, with a diameter of 15 feet (4.56m), will hold four astronauts or a mix of crew and cargo.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore inside Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft ahead of launch on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
Inside Starliner for this mission is about 759 pounds of cargo, which includes food, clothing, exercise gear, medical supplies, photo and media equipment, vehicle supplies and tools, and other items. A thumb drive containing about 3,500 images of artwork from children in 35 states and 66 different countries is also set to launch aboard Starliner tonight.
Wilmore is flying with two gold rings he had made for his father and brother that resemble the U.S. Navy astronaut pilot wing pin. He also brought shirts from his alma maters, Tennessee Technological University and the University of Tennessee. Williams brought shirts from the U.S. Naval Academy and the Sunita L. Williams Elementary School in Needham, Massachusetts. She also has a diver pin and two dog tags from her Labrador retrievers.
At 10:52 a.m. EDT, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch the Starliner crew capsule from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Following a roughly 25-hour journey, Starliner will rendezvous and dock with the space station at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, June 6.
Watch live coverage of today’s mission 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.
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and a United Launch Alliance technician stand near the crew access arm at Space Launch Complex-41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
We’re less than three hours away from NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams heading to the International Space Station.
Wilmore and Williams just arrived at the crew access tower at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and will soon head into the White Room. The environmentally controlled chamber at the outer end of the access arm platform is where astronauts prepare to enter Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
The astronauts also made some last minute phone calls before launch.
While in the White Room, the crew will make any last-minute adjustments before launch. Technicians also will complete a series of checkouts before Wilmore enters the capsule, followed by Williams.
The Starliner spacecraft is set to launch at 10:52 a.m. EDT on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Weather continues to hold at 90% chance of favorable conditions for liftoff.
Follow the mission blog for the most up-to-date operations as launch milestones occur. Watch NASA’s mission coverage 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.
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA Television
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, are suited up and on their way to the launch pad for today’s launch.
The duo spent about an hour putting on their suits and completing suit leak checks inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
After suit-up and final fit checks, NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore enter the elevator in the Astronaut Crew Quarters on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, inside Kennedy Space Center’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building in Florida.
After departing the building, Wilmore and Williams waved to family and friends waiting outside before loading into Boeing’s Astrovan. The nine-mile drive will take the astronauts to the launch pad at nearby Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Wilmore and Williams are the first crew to fly aboard Boeing’s Starliner as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff to the International Space Station is scheduled for 10:52 a.m. EDT. The crew is expected to arrive at the orbiting laboratory for rendezvous and docking at 12:15 p.m., Thursday, June 6.
Wilmore and Williams will spend about a week at the space station before the crew capsule makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.
Once the flight test is complete, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for regular human spaceflight launches.
The crew flight test mission makes history in several ways. Williams is the first female astronaut to fly on the first flight of a crewed spacecraft. The mission also marks the first crewed launch on the ULA Atlas V rocket, and the first crewed launch on an Atlas-family class rocket since Gordon Cooper on the last Mercury program flight aboard “Faith 7” in May 1963.
