Two NASA astronauts, Barry Butch Wilmore, mission commander, and Suni Williams, are expected to reach the space station within 25 hours of launch and stay there for about a week. Their goal is to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems before NASA begins work on a transportation system for rotational missions.
Starliner: On May 6, the flight was canceled due to problems with the rocket valve
According to NASA, there is approximately 350 kg of cargo on board the Starliner, including food, clothing, exercise equipment, medical supplies and photography equipment. There is also a pendrive containing about 3.5 thousand. photos showing the work of children from 35 American states and 66 different countries.
This was the third attempt to launch the Starliner. On May 6, the flight was canceled due to rocket valve problems and subsequent helium leakage in the capsule's propulsion system. The next attempt, made on June 1, was also unsuccessful. This time the ground launch sequencer failed.
The first Starliner launch in 2019, without a crew, ended in failure because the capsule entered the wrong orbit and did not reach the ISS. As a result, the flight had to be repeated. A series of further technical faults were later discovered. NASA has commissioned private companies Boeing and Elon Musk's SpaceX to develop and produce a vehicle to transport astronauts to the ISS and from the space station to Earth. SpaceX's Dragon ships have been successfully performing orbital flights since 2020.
