A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on board is seen on the illuminated launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41, ahead of the Boeing crew flight test by NASA at the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida. NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is the first astronaut launch of the Boeing CFT-100 spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
NASA and Boeing teams were asked to move forward with plans to launch the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test in
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, ahead of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. The first launch attempt, on May 6, was cancelled. As part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, Wilmore and Williams are the first to launch to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41, located near Cape Canaveral Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 12:25 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 1. Credit: NASA/Cory S Huston
Astronaut Quarantine
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Kennedy on May 28 and will remain quarantined in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building until Saturday’s launch. The crew had previously quarantined in Houston while mission teams worked to fix various problems with the rocket and spacecraft since a first launch attempt was canceled on May 6.
Preparations before launch
Next, NASA leaders, along with partners from Boeing and ULA, will hold a pre-launch press conference at 1 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 31 in the Kennedy Press Auditorium.
Liftoff of the Atlas V rocket and Starliner spacecraft will take place from Space Launch Complex-41 at the Cape Canaveral space station in Florida. The manned flight test will send Wilmore and Williams to the orbiting laboratory for about a week before returning to Earth aboard the crew’s reusable capsule, which will make a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.
