Boeing successfully launches first Starliner with crew

Boeing has successfully launched the first crewed CST-100 Starliner from Cape Canaveral. The spacecraft is headed to the International Space Station and carries NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams. The crew will stay on the space station for a week.

The launch of the regarding Starliner capsule was postponed several times due to technical problems with both the crew capsule and the Atlas V thruster. It is the first time that the aviation company has successfully completed the so-called Crew Flight Test, although two successful test flights without a crew have already been completed. After the space mission, the two astronauts must return to Earth in the same capsule.

In addition to the two astronauts, the Starliner capsule has a load of approximately 345 kilograms of research material on board. The spaceship also carries important replacement parts for a urine processor to the ISS. Currently, astronauts have to store urine on the space station. With the replacement parts for the system, urine can be converted back into drinking water.

Wilmore and Williams, 61 and 58 years old respectively, are NASA veterans who have previously spent extended periods of time on the ISS. Wilmore spent a total of almost six months on the space station and Williams almost a year, completing a total of almost 51 hours of spacewalks over seven expeditions. This is the third space mission for both Americans.

Source: Boeing