A last-minute drawback nixed Saturday’s launch try for Boeing’s first astronaut flight, the latest in a string of delays through the years.
Two NASA astronauts had been strapped in the corporate’s Starliner capsule when the countdown routinely was halted at three minutes and 50 seconds by the pc system that controls the ultimate minutes earlier than liftoff.
With mere minutes to take off, there was no time to work out the latest hassle and all the pieces was called off. It was not instantly clear why the computer systems aborted the countdown.
Launch controllers had been evaluating the information, mentioned United Launch Alliance’s Dillon Rice.
Technicians raced to the pad to assist astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams out of the capsule atop the totally fuelled Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Within an hour of the launch abort, the hatch was reopened.
It was the second launch try. The first launch try on May 6 was delayed for leak checks and rocket repairs.
The subsequent accessible launch window for the mission is Sunday at about midday native time, however NASA mentioned in an announcement on Saturday that mission officers would forgo that chance, with out setting a brand new date. The subsequent accessible possibilities to launch are Wednesday June 5 and Thursday June 6.
“We got really close today,” mentioned Steve Stich, supervisor of NASA’s industrial crew program.
“I know it’s a little disappointing, we were all excited. This is kind of the way spaceflight is,” he mentioned.
NASA needs a backup to SpaceX, which has been flying astronauts for 4 years.
Boeing ought to have launched its first crew across the identical time as SpaceX, however its first check flight with nobody on board in 2019 was suffering from extreme software program points and by no means made it to the area station.
A redo in 2022 fared higher, however parachute issues and flammable tape later prompted extra delays. A small leak in the capsule’s propulsion system last month got here on prime of a rocket valve problem.
More valve hassle cropped up two hours earlier than Saturday’s deliberate liftoff, however the crew used a backup circuit to get the ground-equipment valves working to prime off the gasoline for the rocket’s higher stage. Launch controllers had been relieved to maintain pushing forward, however the laptop system generally known as the bottom launch sequencer ended the hassle.
“Of course, this is emotionally disappointing,” NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, the backup pilot, mentioned from neighbouring Kennedy Space Center.
But he mentioned delays are half of area flight. “We’re going to have a great launch in our future.”