Boeing And the a pot They postponed the launch of the ship’s first manned mission Starlinerwhich now has a set date to start its journey to International Space Station (EEI) on May 25.
The reason for the new date is to allow more time to resolve “a small helium leak in the service module of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft,” as the US space agency explained on Friday.
The CFT mission (short for Crew Flight Test) was scheduled to lift off on May 21 from the launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida (USA), with NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams on board.
This is the fourth postponement of this mission since it was preparing to ascend to the International Space Station on May 6, but the lift-off was suspended after an anomaly was discovered in the liquid oxygen tank of the Atlas V booster rocket, from the United Launch Alliance (ULA).
According to NASA, pressure tests on the Starliner’s helium system conducted last Wednesday showed that “the leak at the tip is stable and will not represent a danger at this level during the flight,” but technicians want to continue the tests to ensure the ship’s performance. .
The ship and its crew will lift off on May 25, at 3:09 p.m. local time. The ship and its crew will remain on the International Space Station for about a week before embarking on their return, with a landing planned in the southwestern United States and supported. Of the parachute system.
The success of the mission will allow Boeing to obtain the necessary certifications to serve as a second provider of cargo and crew transportation services to the International Space Station, as it already does. SpaceX As a result of million-dollar contracts signed by the two private companies with NASA.
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