The first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has been postponed until May 17, NASA announced a day after it was postponed shortly before liftoff due to a technical problem.
The US space agency wrote in a press release that a new lift-off attempt could take place “no later than 6:16 pm on Friday, May 17,” which is the appropriate time to make repairs.
On Monday, the Starliner spacecraft was finally scheduled to take off for the first time toward the International Space Station (ISS), thus joining the very exclusive club of spaceships that have carried humans. But about two hours before the scheduled launch time and while the two American astronauts were entering the capsule, the liftoff was canceled: an anomaly was identified in the valve of the Atlas V rocket that was supposed to propel the Starliner capsule into orbit.
A launch date of Friday, May 10 was mentioned last night, but further analysis showed that the valve in question actually needed to be replaced – a task that would require the rocket to be returned to its hangar. NASA said that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams will remain isolated in the meantime.
Reproduction © Copyright ANSA
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