NASA postpones the launch of the manned Starliner spacecraft

Before the decision to postpone the launch of the Starliner spacecraft was made, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were already sitting in the driver's seat.

America's plan to launch a manned Starliner spacecraft for the first time to the International Space Station (ISS) could not take place as expected.

Two hours before the planned launch time, the US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it had discovered a new problem that could affect flight safety, thus delaying the launch.

Starliner spacecraft - (Photo file: NASA).

NASA director Bill Nelson 's post on platform stitch is ready".

Before the above decision was made, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were already sitting in the driver's seat.

According to the plan, the Starliner spacecraft will be launched from Cape Canaveral at 10:34 p.m. on May 6 local time (ie 9:34 a.m. on May 7 Vietnam time), using an Atlas V rocket powered by United Launch Alliance - the company joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, manufacturing. When the Starliner goes into space, two astronauts will test controlling the ship manually.

This will be the last test before Starliner officially takes over astronaut transportation for NASA. Ms. Dana Weigel - director of NASA's ISS program - emphasized the importance of this agency having a second choice for vehicles to bring people into space, in addition to SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Therefore, this flight is considered an important milestone for both Boeing and NASA.

The launch was again postponed because NASA engineers said they needed more time to investigate unusual readings from the oxygen release valve on the booster's second stage.

Before that, many Starliner tests were unsuccessful. During the first unmanned test flight in 2019, the Starliner did not enter the correct orbit and had to return without reaching the ISS.

Then, due to technical problems, the test launch in 2021 was also postponed. In May 2022, the unmanned Starliner reached the ISS, but subsequent problems delayed the first manned test flight.

Although the ISS is expected to be decommissioned in 2030, both Starliner and Dragon could be used to ferry humans to future private space stations that several companies are planning to build. .