A pair of NASA astronauts have finally taken their historic ride on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner making its first-ever human spaceflight Wednesday morning.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore take off on the Starliner Crew Flight Test, from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
Members of the media capture the launch of the Starliner Crew Flight Test, from the roof of the Vehicle Assembly Building, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore take off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, on their way to the International Space Station.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket topped with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner launches with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the Crew Flight Test mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — “I am very impressed with my colleagues for being such optimists and such professionals.” said NASA astronaut for future Starliner crew member Mike Fincke during NASA’s live commentary leading up to launch. “They’ve been in quarantine for a long time. You know we’ve been waiting for over five years to get Starliner launched, but they are very, very excited about today. You can see that they’re focused on getting the job done and they are very ready for this mission.”“Everything was fine.
Just before 9 a.m., teams waited the conclusion of a weather brief before moving forward with hatch closure, but were given the go for hatch closure with less than two hours to go before launch.The astronauts will spend just over 25 hours making their way to the ISS set to dock Thursday at 12:15 p.m., where they will spend about eight days on board before returning to Earth for a landing in one of five locations in the desert in the southwestern United States.
“There’s a thought of how things should be, but then there’s the reality how things need to be,” said Wilmore ahead of the launch attempt. “That’s what this test is all — everything we do is test. It’s been a process over the years that is such a benefit in all aspects of the capabilities of this spacecraft, and we’re excited to be a part of it.”
Starliner is only the sixth ever U.S.-based spacecraft to fly with NASA astronauts following Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, the space shuttleand SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Williams is the first woman to fly on an orbital test flight among NASA’s spacecraft.
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