Since NASA and Boeing first announced their plan to send astronauts aboard the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, there have been a number of delays in completing certification paperwork. Originally, NASA had hoped to have the first crewed set-in motion of the Starliner by the end of April but now says that won’t happen till July.
Officials say that certification is will take a bit longer because they are trying to make sure that everything on the spacecraft is up to par. They also say that they want to make sure that any potential problems can be fixed before astronauts are sent into space. So far, everything seems to be on track for the July 21 launch date but it’s still unclear what caused the original April timeline to slip so much. Either way, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.
The weather was good for the parachute test, but there was a problem. The cover on top of the spacecraft that covers the parachute deployment system had come off during launch and the test would have to be cancelled. “We’re going to have to do it another day,” Stich said.
Despite the setback, Stich remained optimistic about the CFT mission. He said all the work required to prepare it for launching to the Space Station will be done by April and only a certification test on the parachutes is left. “There’s no issues with parachutes as long as everything goes according to plan,” he said.
Since the start of the year, Boeing has been facing a number of challenges. The first was a delay in parachute certification work, which caused some concern that the launch of Starliner by the end of April could be in jeopardy. But despite those hiccups, officials are confident that they can still make it happen.
The second issue is more complicated, and involves concerns about the structural integrity of one of the ship’s landing legs. While officials won’t say exactly what’s causing the problem, they assure everyone that it’s nothing dangerous and that there are no plans to delay Starliner any further.
The launch window for the mission of SpaceX cargo Dragon to the International Space Station was revised again, this time to July. The engineers plan to use the extra time to perform an extensive review of the other parts of the avionics system. They will be checking for any signs of problems or issues that could lead to failure during flight. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said that although the delay is disappointing, it is better than launching in April. “We came to the conclusion that the July window would be best,” he said. “This gives us more time to ensure everything goes perfectly and that there are no other issues.
”Despite the delay, Mr. Nappi remains optimistic about a successful launch and docking in July. “We have done this before,” he said. “We will get through this and come out on top.”