Names | Boe-CFT [1] |
---|---|
Mission type | Test flight |
Operator | Boeing Defense, Space & Security |
Mission duration | ~8 days (planned) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Boeing Starliner Calypso |
Spacecraft type | Boeing Starliner |
Manufacturer | Boeing Defense, Space & Security |
Crew | |
Crew size | 2 |
Members | |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | NET 1 June 2024 at 16:25 UTC (June 1, 2024 at 12:25 PM EDT) |
Rocket | Atlas V N22 [lower-alpha 1] |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 |
Contractor | United Launch Alliance |
End of mission | |
Landing date | TBD |
Landing site | White Sands Missile Range |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Inclination | 51.66° |
Docking with International Space Station | |
Docking port | Harmony forward |
Docking date | TBD (planned) |
Undocking date | TBD (planned) |
Time docked | TBD (planned) |
Williams (left) and Wilmore (Right) |
Boeing Crew Flight Test (Boe-CFT) will be the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner and the third orbital flight test of the Starliner overall after the two uncrewed orbital flight tests, Boe-OFT and Boe-OFT 2 in 2019 and 2022. The flight was scheduled for liftoff at 2:34 on 7 May UTC (May 6, 2024, at 10:34 PM EDT), but was scrubbed about two hours before liftoff. The cause of the scrub was due to an oxygen valve problem on the United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Atlas V. [lower-alpha 2] [2] [3] Since the inital scrub, the launch has been repeatedly delayed due to a helium leak in the Starliner service module. [4] The launch was rescheduled for no earlier than 1 June 2024 at 16:25 UTC (Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 12:25 PM EDT). [5]
The first crewed flight test was initially planned to occur in 2017. [6] Various delays pushed the launch of the CFT mission to no earlier than 21 July 2023, [7] but Boeing announced in August 2023 that it would be delayed to no earlier than March 2024 due to issues with the parachute system and wiring harnesses and further investigations. [8]
The mission will entail flying a crew of two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for a one-week test flight and then returning the crew via a ground landing in the American Southwest. The spacecraft was integrated with the Atlas launch vehicle on 16 April 2024 in preparation for launch. [9]
CFT will be the second mission for the Starliner Calypso capsule, which was first used on the first OFT mission. NASA announced that Boeing prepared to reassemble the vehicle for flight, following multiple checkouts, for the CFT mission in August 2020, and that new parachutes and airbags would be fitted. The CFT capsule's docking system was modified to accommodate the new re-entry cover that debuted on the OFT 2 test flight. [10]
Nicole Aunapu Mann was initially assigned to this mission, which would have made her the first woman to fly on the maiden crewed flight of an orbital spacecraft, but was subsequently reassigned to the SpaceX Crew-5 mission as the first female commander of a NASA Commercial Crew Program launch. [11] Due to medical reasons, Eric Boe, who was originally assigned to the mission in August 2018 as the pilot was replaced by Michael Fincke on 22 January 2019. Boe will replace Fincke as the assistant to the chief for commercial crew in the astronaut office at NASA's Johnson Space Center. [12] Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson was originally assigned to the flight as commander, but he was replaced by NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore on 7 October 2020. Ferguson cited family reasons for the replacement. [13] Matthew Dominick replaced him on the backup crew. [14]
On 18 April 2022, NASA said that it had not finalized which of the cadre of Starliner astronauts, including Barry Wilmore, Michael Fincke, and Sunita Williams, will fly on this mission or the first operational Starliner mission. [15] On 16 June 2022, NASA confirmed that this CFT mission will be a two-person flight test, consisting of Wilmore and Williams; Fincke is to train as the backup spacecraft test pilot and remains eligible for assignment to a future mission. [16] Williams is expected to become the first woman to fly on the maiden crewed flight of an orbital spacecraft type (Judith Resnik was the first female crew member on the maiden flight of an orbital spacecraft, the Space Shuttle Discovery, followed by Kathryn Thornton on Endeavour, Shannon Walker on Crew Dragon Resilience, Kayla Barron on Endurance, and Samantha Cristoforetti and Jessica Watkins on Freedom).
Position | Crew member | |
---|---|---|
Spacecraft Commander | Barry Eugene Wilmore, NASA Third spaceflight | |
Pilot | Sunita Williams, NASA Third spaceflight |
Position | Crew member | |
---|---|---|
Spacecraft Commander | Michael Fincke, NASA |
The third launch of the Atlas V N22 [lower-alpha 1] variant will launch Starliner with a crew of two. The vehicle will dock with the International Space Station, and return to Earth under parachutes for a ground landing in the United States. The capsule, named Calypso, will approach the ground at approximately 4 mph (350 ft/min; 1.8 m/s), and will land on six inflatable air bags. The capsule has been refurbished for its second flight. It was originally flown on the first OFT mission for the Starliner capsule. A toy narwhal, coincidentally also named "Calypso", will be used by the crew as a zero-gravity indicator, signaling when the craft has reached weightlessness. [17]
This will be the first launch of a crewed spacecraft by an Atlas V launch vehicle. In addition, Boe-CFT will be the first launch of a crewed spacecraft utilizing a member of the Atlas family of launch vehicles since Project Mercury in the early 1960s, [18] and the first launch of a crewed spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station since that of Apollo 7 in October 1968. [18]
Based upon space station resources and scheduling needs, a short-duration mission with two astronaut test pilots is sufficient to meet all NASA and Boeing test objectives for CFT, which include demonstrating Starliner's ability to safely fly operational crewed missions to and from the space station. To protect against unforeseen events with crew transportation to and from the station, NASA may extend the duration of the CFT docking for up to six months. [16]
Human spaceflight programs have been conducted, started, or planned by multiple countries and companies. Until the 21st century, human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments, through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of human spaceflight programs – commercial human spaceflight – arrived. By the end of 2022, three countries and one private company (SpaceX) had successfully launched humans to Earth orbit, and two private companies had launched humans on a suborbital trajectory.
Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke is an American astronaut who formerly held the American record for the most time in space. His record was broken by Scott Kelly on October 16, 2015.
Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. It is used for DoD, NASA, and Commercial payloads. It is America's longest-serving active rocket. After 87 launches, in August 2021 ULA announced that Atlas V would be retired, and all 29 remaining launches had been sold. As of January 2024, 17 launches remain. Other future ULA launches will use the new Vulcan Centaur rocket.
Sunita Lyn Williams, nicknamed Suni in the United States and Sončka in Slovenia, is an American astronaut, United States Navy officer, and former record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman. Williams was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and Expedition 15. In 2012, she served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33.
Christopher J. "Fergy" Ferguson is a Boeing commercial astronaut and a retired United States Navy captain and NASA astronaut. He was the pilot of Space Shuttle Atlantis on his first mission to space, STS-115, which launched on September 9, 2006, and returned to Earth on September 21, 2006. He then commanded STS-126 aboard Space ShuttleEndeavour. In 2011, he was assigned as commander of STS-135, which was the final mission of the space shuttle program.
Eric Allen Boe is a retired United States Air Force fighter pilot, Colonel, test pilot, and a current, active NASA astronaut. He flew as the pilot of Space Shuttle missions STS-126 and STS-133.
Barry Eugene "Butch" Wilmore is a NASA astronaut and United States Navy test pilot. He has had two spaceflights, the first of which was an 11-day Space Shuttle mission in November 2009, to the International Space Station. Wilmore was designated as pilot with five other crew members on Space Shuttle Atlantis for the mission STS-129. He most recently served as part of Expedition 41 to the International Space Station.
The Boeing Starliner is a class of partially reusable spacecraft designed to transport crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. It is manufactured by Boeing, with the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) of NASA as the anchor customer. The spacecraft consists of a reusable crew capsule and an expendable service module.
Development of the Commercial Crew Program began in the second round of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, which was rescoped from a technology development program for human spaceflight to a competitive development program that would produce the spacecraft to be used in the Commercial Crew Program to provide crew transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS). To implement the program NASA awarded a series of competitive fixed-price contracts to private vendors starting in 2011. Operational contracts to fly astronauts were awarded in September 2014 to SpaceX and Boeing, and NASA expected each company to complete development and achieve crew rating in 2017. Each company performed an uncrewed orbital test flight in 2019. SpaceX operational flights started in November 2020.
Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by American space company SpaceX, primarily for flights to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX also launches private missions, such as Inspiration4 and Axiom Space Missions. There are two variants of the Dragon spacecraft: Crew Dragon, a spacecraft capable of ferrying four crewmembers, and Cargo Dragon, a replacement for the original Dragon 1 used to carry freight to and from space. The spacecraft consists of a reusable space capsule and an expendable trunk module. The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket and the capsule returns to Earth through splashdown. It has proven to be the most cost effective spacecraft in history to be used by NASA.
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The Boeing Starliner Orbital Flight Test was the first orbital mission of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, conducted by Boeing as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission was planned to be an eight-day test flight of the spacecraft, involving a rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station (ISS), and a landing in the western United States. The mission was launched on 20 December 2019 at 11:36:43 UTC or 06:36:43 AM EST; however an issue with the spacecraft's Mission Elapsed Time (MET) clock occurred 31 minutes into flight. This anomaly caused the spacecraft to burn into an incorrect orbit, preventing a rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS). The mission was reduced to just two days, with the spacecraft successfully landing at White Sands Space Harbor on 22 December 2019.
Boeing Starliner-1 also called Post Certification Mission-1 (PCM-1) is planned to be the first operational crew mission of the Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Commercial Crew Program. It would be the fourth orbital flight mission of the Starliner overall. It is scheduled to launch no earlier than early 2025, transporting members of a future ISS Expedition.
The Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 was a repeat of Boeing's unsuccessful first Orbital Flight Test (Boe-OFT) of its Starliner spacecraft. The uncrewed mission was part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2, using Starliner Spacecraft 2, launched 19 May 2022 and lasted 6 days. Starliner successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on 21 May 2022. It stayed at the ISS for 4 days before undocking and landing in the White Sands Missile Range on 25 May 2022.
Boeing Starliner Calypso is a space capsule manufactured by Boeing and used in NASA's Commercial Crew Program. On 20 December 2019, Calypso launched on the Boeing Orbital Flight Test mission, an uncrewed test flight of Starliner to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was scheduled to dock to the ISS and then return to Earth following a week in space, although due to several software issues the spacecraft was unable to rendezvous with the station and landed after two days in space, resulting in Boeing needing to schedule a second Orbital Flight Test.
The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) provides commercially operated crew transportation service to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA, conducting crew rotations between the expeditions of the International Space Station program. American space manufacturer SpaceX began providing service in 2020, using the Crew Dragon spacecraft, and NASA plans to add Boeing when its Boeing Starliner spacecraft becomes operational no earlier than 2025. NASA has contracted for six operational missions from Boeing and fourteen from SpaceX, ensuring sufficient support for ISS through 2030.
SpaceX Crew-2 was the second operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission was launched on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:02 UTC, and docked to the International Space Station on 24 April at 09:08 UTC.
Boeing Starliner Spacecraft 2 is the first of two active Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft developed and built under NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The spacecraft was originally scheduled to make its maiden flight on Boe-CFT, the first crewed flight test of the Starliner spacecraft, although following the partial failure of the other CST-100 on Boe-OFT which required a repeat uncrewed test (Boe-OFT-2) of the spacecraft to be scheduled, spacecraft 2 was reassigned to Boe-OFT-2 and also scheduled to fly Starliner-1 after being reassigned from CFT mission.
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