On Monday , NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams will establish aboard Boeing Starliner – the partially reusable commercial-grade vehicle that will play people from the United States to the International Space Station ( ISS ) and other locations in low - ground orbit , such as futureprivate infinite stations .
The Monday test is the third and final orbital flight test forStarlinerand the first one with crew on board . Just like SpaceX ’s Crew Dragon ejector seat , Starliner will ferry astronauts . But it has take a much longer sentence to get to this point than SpaceX , whose first crewed delegation wasin 2020 , did .
Starliner had its first crewed flight test planned for 2017 but it was table time and time again . The late delay moved this trial run from last August to this calendar month , to resolve issues with the parachute system and wiring harness among others .
“ We ’ve been through training and we have our fingerprints on every unmarried procedure that exists for this spacecraft , ” said Wilmore in astatement . “ We ’re amply trained in all scene of Starliner . ”
“ We feel very dependable and very comfortable when this space vehicle flies , ” added Williams . “ This is where we ’re hypothecate to be . ”
The launch is expected at 10:34 promethium local meter from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida .
Starliner will fly to space on top of an Atlas cinque rocket . Wilmore and Williams will expend about one week on the ISS before catch back into Starliner and landing in the American Southwest . A parachute will slow down the descent to 6.4 kilometers ( 4 statute mile ) per minute and the abridgement will be soften by six airbags .
In orbit , Starliner will be try out as a " safe harbor " – a protected environs within the outer space post that could be used in typesetter’s case of parking brake . In the hereafter , the capsule will stay up to seven months in space and each Starliner can be recycle up to 10 times .
Starliner is going to be attach to the Harmony port on the ISS and this has do some necessary rearrangement in reach . The Crew-8 Capsulehad to be movedfrom the Harmony port to the Zenith port to make trusted Harmony was destitute for Starliner once it docks with the ISS on Wednesday , May 8 .
If everything goes well , both in orbit and with the landing and successful recovery , NASA will certify the spacecraft as an operational crew system for foresighted - duration rotation missions to the distance place . Starliner will then begin bringing spaceman to the ISS in 2025 .
The launching will be streamed live in the picture radio link above , on NASA+ , and on the representation ’s social channels .
