Boeing was set to launch its first manned rocket into space Monday night but was forced to scrap the plan over a faulty valve.
The valve was an oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the Atlas V rocket that was set to propel two NASA test pilots to space. The pilots were already strapped into the Boeing Starliner capsule when the issue was detected. The company has not set a date to attempt the launch again, but NASA has advised that Friday, May 10, would be the earliest possible date.
The intended mission of the launch was to ferry astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station.
“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,” United Launch Alliance engineer Dillon Rice said, as reported by The Guardian.
The Starliner project has had a bumpy history. Its first test in 2019 did not reach the correct orbit and failed to dock with the space station as intended. Subsequent tests suffered from issues with the landing parachutes and required the removal of a mile of flammable tape.
Beyond making history by participating in Boeing’s first launch, Wilmore and Williams will be the first astronauts to launch from Cape Canaveral since 1968 and will be the first to do so on an Atlas rocket since 1963, Space.com reported.
NASA contracted with Boeing a decade ago to build a spacecraft. SpaceX is the only other company operating manned flights and has been ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS since 2020. SpaceX currently launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida but is building a massive complex in Brownsville, Texas called Starbase.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, recent claims suggest Boeing has been focusing on “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies more than safety following numerous incidents involving the company’s aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration recently opened a new investigation into the airplane manufacturer after it was reported that inspections of the wing-to-body attachments on some Boeing 787 aircraft were falsified.
