NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test Crew Butch Wilmore (left), and Suni Williams (right) arrive in Florida on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Credit: NASA
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams prepare for a historic launch on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft scheduled for May 6, aiming for a week-long mission at the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams landed on April 25, at the Launch and Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a short flight from Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Paying homage to their piloting days as retired US Navy captains, they flew to Kennedy in a T-38 jet.
As part of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, Wilmore and Williams are the first to launch aboard the company’s Starliner spacecraft on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station.
Shortly after 1 pm EDTNASA leaders held a brief welcome ceremony and short news conference with the following participants:
- Jennifer Kunz, associate director, NASA Kennedy
- Dana Hutcherson, deputy manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
- NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore
- NASA astronaut Suni Williams
NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Associate Director Jennifer Kunz and NASA Commercial Crew Program Deputy Manager Dana Hutcherson participate in a media event at the Florida spaceport on Thursday, April 25, 2024, upon the arrival of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 10:34 pm EDT on Monday, May 6. The Atlas V will lift off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Credit: NASA/Chris Chamberland
Meanwhile, NASA, Boeing, and ULA representatives are participating in the agency’s Flight Test Readiness Review at NASA Kennedy. The two-day event, which is scheduled to conclude April 25, verifies the mission readiness, including all systems, facilities, and teams that will support the launch.
Liftoff is scheduled for 10:34 pm Monday, May 6, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The astronauts will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before the crew capsule makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.
