NASA Readies Third Try to Launch Crew on Boeing Starliner After Weekend Setback

The latest problem was blamed on a faulty ground power unit at the launch pad

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore (L) and Suni Williams prepare to board Boeing's Starliner spacecraft at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida early this month. MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images

The latest attempt to send astronauts into space aboard Boeing's troubled Starliner is scheduled for Wednesday, according to NASA.

The Boeing Crew Flight Test mission to the International Space Station is set to lift off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 a.m. ET.

Computer trouble forced the cancellation of a planned launch on Saturday after the countdown automatically stopped at 3 minutes, 50 seconds to liftoff.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were strapped into their seats atop the fully fueled Atlas V rocket and it took technicians about an hour to open the hatch and get them out.

The rocket then had to be drained of all its highly flammable fuel before workers could troubleshoot the problem.

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft sits to Space Launch Complex 41 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 3, 2024. Boeing's second attempt at launching a crew aboard its troubled Starliner spaceship was dramatically aborted Saturday with just minutes left on the countdown clock, yet another setback for a program that has faced years of delays. MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images

Technicians and engineers with rocket maker United Launch Alliance worked overnight Saturday and Sunday to examine equipment at the launch pad, NASA said in a statement Sunday.

The team found and replaced a faulty ground power unit that caused a malfunction in one of three computers, all of which need to work properly to proceed with a launch.

The scrubbed blastoff marked the second after a May 6 launch was delayed when a pressure-relief valve on the rocket began buzzing because it was fluttering open and close.

The Starliner's first test flight without a crew in 2019 failed to reach the space station and had to be repeated but more problems cropped up, including the discovery of hundreds of feet of flammable tape inside the craft.

NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX to replace its space shuttle program and SpaceX has been ferrying astronauts to and from the station since 2020.

If all goes well Wednesday, Wilmore and Williams will spend about a week there.

The Space Force has predicted a 90% chance of favorable weather for Wednesday's launch, with the next opportunity available at 10:29 a.m. on Thursday.

Tags
Nasa, Boeing, Astronauts, International Space Station
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