Boeing's crewed Starliner flight won't return until at least August, NASA says
Boeing’s crew spacecraft Starliner will stay docked with the International Space Station into August, NASA confirmed on Thursday, as the mission remains on hold while the company and agency study problems that arose early in the flight.
Boeing’s crew spacecraft Starliner will stay docked with the International Space Station into August, NASA confirmed on Thursday, as the mission remains on hold while the company and agency study problems that arose early in the flight.
Starliner capsule “Calypso,” which carried NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the ISS, has now been in space 50 days and counting. The Boeing crew flight test has been extended several times while NASA conducted testing back on the ground prior to clearing the spacecraft to carry the pair of astronauts back to Earth.
NASA’s Commercial Crew manager Steve Stich said during a press conference Thursday that the agency was not prepared to set a return date.
Boeing's Starliner lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., on June 5.John Raoux / AP file“We’re making great progress, but we’re just not quite ready to do that,” Stich said.
NASA needs to conduct a review that won’t happen until the first week of August, Stich said, and only after that review will the agency schedule Starliner’s return.
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