Boeing calls off astronaut launch due to valve problem with rocket | CBC News

· Posted: May 04, 2024 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: May 7

Boeing called off a test flight of its Starliner commercial spacecraft on Monday launch because of a valve problem on the rocket.

The two NASA test pilots had just strapped into the Starliner capsule when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the planned liftoff.

A United Launch Alliance engineer, Dillon Rice, said the issue involved an oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the company's Atlas rocket. There was no immediate word on when the team would try again to launch the test pilots to the International Space Station (ISS) for a week-long stay. It was the latest delay for Boeing's first crew flight, on hold for years because of capsule trouble.

"In a situation like this, if we see any data signature is not something that we have seen before, then we are just simply not willing to take any chances with what is our most precious payload," Rice said.

The final test of the crewed spacecraft — also referred to as its Crew Space Transportation 100 (CST-100) — had been scheduled to lift off at 10:34 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

It would have carried two astronauts — Butch Wilmore, the commander for the mission, and Suni Williams, the pilot — to the space station.

"It almost feels unreal," Williams said in a question-and-answer session last week. That's because Boeing has faced years-long delays after getting the contract from NASA in 2014 to build a new space capsule.

Wilmore and Williams had been in their seats for about an hour when the launch was called off.

They were assisted out of the capsule by technicians and whisked away from the launch complex in a van to await a second flight attempt once the problem has been resolved.

Had they launched, the pair would have heard a Canadian voice from mission control communicating with them — astronaut Joshua Kutryk. 

It's an important role for him: He's one of four crew members who are set to take the same spacecraft on its first operational mission about a year from now. It'll be a six-month journey to the ISS and back.

"Concurrent to my duties with [this launch], I've been training to get ready for that expedition for about a year now," he said.

And this isn't his first time in mission control at Capcom (a throwback term from NASA's earliest days that stands for capsule communication).

He's been in the same position for SpaceX launches, but in the case of SpaceX, the company controlled the spacecraft. In Boeing's case, control will be done from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"I think it's the first time that we're going to [once again] control … a crewed launch and re-entry from here in Houston since the space shuttle ended," Kutryk said. "So it's a big deal. There's a lot of excitement for NASA. And I just feel really lucky and proud to be able to be a part of it."

History of delays

After NASA's space shuttle program ended in 2011, the space agency had no other option but to use the Russian Soyuz rockets to get American and Canadian astronauts into space. 

Then, in 2014, NASA announced that it had chosen two commercial companies to build spacecraft that would return launch capabilities to American soil: SpaceX and Boeing.

While SpaceX successfully began launching astronauts to the ISS in 2020, Boeing has yet to do so.

In order for NASA to approve any new crew spacecraft, SpaceX and Boeing had to each conduct two critical tests: the first, an uncrewed launch and docking with the ISS; the second, a crewed launch and docking.

SpaceX passed its two tests easily, launching its first operational mission in 2020. (It's important to note they had already had experience launching cargo capsules to the ISS on their Falcon 9 rocket, and the crewed capsule was quite similar to the Dragon cargo.)

However, Boeing's first uncrewed launch was unable to dock with the ISS. It launched again in 2022 and successfully docked.

No jitters

Asked if they were experiencing any jitters about the upcoming launch, Williams and Wilmore — both seasoned test pilots and astronauts who have each spent more than a year in space — said that they were feeling good. 

"We've both been here before," said Williams. "I don't necessarily think it's jitters. I'm just thinking it's more like last-minute checks, crossing the T's and dotting the I's."

They — along with Kutryk — have been working alongside Boeing during the development of Starliner. Wilmore said that for him, it's more about focusing on the procedures and preparation.

WATCH | More on the upcoming Starliner flight test: 

CBC's Natasha Fatah talks to astronaut Joshua Kutryk about NASA's upcoming Starliner flight test

While on board the capsule — named Calypso by Williams in honour of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau's vessel — the pair will be running through several checks and procedures to ensure it is ready for regular launches to the ISS.

"Everything's not going to be absolutely perfect as we fly the spacecraft. And that's really what our goal is. We've gotten to a point … that we feel very safe and comfortable how this spacecraft flies," Williams said.

"But we're going to find new things, and we're going to write those things down and we're going to relay all that and fix it for the next time the spacecraft flies."

Corrections

• An earlier image misidentified CST-100 Starliner backup astronaut Mike Fincke as Butch Williams. A new photo has been provided.

  May 06, 2024 11:13 AM ET

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Based in Toronto, Nicole covers all things science for CBC News. As an amateur astronomer, Nicole can be found looking up at the night sky appreciating the marvels of our universe. She is the editor of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and the author of several books. In 2021, she won the Kavli Science Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for a Quirks and Quarks audio special on the history and future of Black people in science. You can send her story ideas at Nicole.Mortillaro@cbc.ca.

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With files from The Associated Press and Reuters