Boeing’s Starliner Lifts off for Orbital Flight Test

Boeing’s Starliner Lifts off for Orbital Flight Test

This illustration shows Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner in Earth orbit.
This illustration shows Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner in Earth orbit. Image credit: NASA

By Bob Granath

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner lifts off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 20. 2019.
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner lifts off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 20. 2019. Photo credit: SpaceAgeChropnicle.com/Bob Granath

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program took another step forward with the successful launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on an unpiloted Orbital Flight Test (OFT). The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifted off at 6:36 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2019 from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Atlas launch vehicle and its Centaur upper stage performed as planned placing Starliner in orbit.

From the left, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson and NASA astronaut Nicole Mann pose for the official crew portrait for Boeing's Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station, part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
From the left, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson and NASA astronaut Nicole Mann will be on board for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA

At a post-launch news conference, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine explained that when the spacecraft separated from the upper stage, the Starliner’s orbital insertion burn, or engine firing, did not go as planned. While the spacecraft now will not dock with the International Space Station, the primary mission is on track to test the Starliner’s ability to reach Earth orbit, perform in space and safely return to a landing at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Plans call for the first piloted flight of the Starliner to take place next year with NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann joined by Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, a veteran NASA astronaut who commanded the last Space Shuttle mission in 2011.

“The anomaly has to do with automation,” Bridenstine said. “Nicole and Mike are trained specifically the deal with situations such as automation not working as planned. If they had been in the spacecraft today, we may be on our way to docking with the space station.”

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lights up the early morning sky at 6:36 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2019 at Boeing’s Starliner Commercial Crew spacecraft lifts off for the Orbital Flight Test.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lights up the early morning sky at 6:36 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2019 at Boeing’s Starliner Commercial Crew spacecraft lifts off for the Orbital Flight Test. Photo credit: SpaceAgeChropnicle.com/Bob Granath

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