NASA mentioned on Tuesday it pushed a routine SpaceX launch of astronauts to the Worldwide House Station (ISS) again a month to spend extra time analysing points with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which stays docked on the station.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft was initially scheduled to launch 4 astronauts to the ISS on August 18, however NASA mentioned that mission, named Crew-9, is now deliberate for “no sooner than” September 24.
“This adjustment permits extra time for mission managers to finalise return planning for the company’s Boeing Crew Flight Check presently docked to the orbiting laboratory,” the company mentioned.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June launched its first two astronauts to the ISS as a high-stakes take a look at mission required earlier than NASA can certify the spacecraft for routine astronaut flights, a milestone that SpaceX’s related Crew Dragon capsule achieved in 2020.
However Starliner’s take a look at mission, initially anticipated to final about eight days, has been drawn out far longer by an array of issues with the craft’s propulsion system that Boeing and NASA have been scrambling to repair.
These issues have referred to as into query Starliner’s potential to securely return to Earth its crew, veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams. NASA has been inspecting whether or not a Crew Dragon capsule should deliver them residence as a substitute.
“No selections have been made concerning Starliner’s return,” NASA’s assertion added.
The mission delays have value Boeing $125 million (roughly Rs. 1,049 crore), securities filings present, bringing the corporate’s complete loss on this system to $1.6 billion (roughly Rs. 13,430 crore) since 2016 because the aerospace large struggles to construct a spacecraft that may compete with SpaceX’s extra skilled and cheaper Crew Dragon.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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