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NASA / Joel Kowsky

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Rolls to Pad (News Release)

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission to send two of the agency’s astronauts to the International Space Station is in the final stages of prelaunch operations.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, stacked on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket, rolled from ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 4, in preparation for launch.

The 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 95% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch, with the cumulus cloud rule being the primary weather concern.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are the first to launch aboard Starliner to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:34 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 6.

The astronauts will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before returning to Earth and making a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.

After successful completion of the mission, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station. The Starliner capsule, with a diameter of 15 feet (4.56m) and the capability to steer automatically or manually, will carry four astronauts, or a mix of crew and cargo, for NASA missions to low-Earth orbit.

NASA will provide live coverage of the launch, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on May 6, on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Joel Kowsky