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CNET says:
SpaceX and its Crew Dragon spacecraft have been a bright spot in NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which returned astronaut launches to US soil in 2020. Boeing, the other Commercial Crew provider, still has some work to do before it carries a NASA crew to the International Space Station.
On Monday, NASA announced a new target date of March 25 to launch the second uncrewed test flight of Boeing's Starliner. Last fall, NASA had been aiming for March 29, so the new date pushes up the target by a few days. The mission is called Orbital Flight Test-2, or OFT-2.
Developing spacecraft is challenging, and hurdles and delays are a normal part of the process.
The first major CST-100 Starliner flight test in late 2019 didn't go as planned. The spacecraft failed to reach the ISS, but it did return to Earth safely. An investigation turned up software defects and a communications link problem. Boeing vowed to conduct a second orbital flight test to prove the spacecraft's safety before it carries humans on board.
Previously:
Boeing and NASA Target December for Second Try at Uncrewed Orbital Demonstration Flight
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 27 2021, @02:22PM (2 children)
I hear they can get a price for launch to LEO from somebody?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 27 2021, @04:49PM (1 child)
I seem to recall that NASA gave Boeing almost twice as much [wikipedia.org] as they gave SpaceX to develop their respective
crudecrewed capsules.I wonder if the Orion capsule will ever materialize. If so, I wonder if it will launch on a Falcon Heavy, because SLS ain't ready yet.
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @03:16AM
The Orion capsule has been in development for as long as the SLS, and for about the same cost (~$20B spent so far), but is well ahead. Abort tests have already been flown on Ares and a Delta IV Heavy has even sent one to space to test the reentry system. We have yet to see if the service module (required for manned operation) will work or not, since that is a different project.
(Score: 5, Funny) by EJ on Wednesday January 27 2021, @04:26PM (3 children)
I hear Boeing's new Starliner 737 Max is going to be great. The astronauts just have to remember to press this one button every few minutes to keep it from nosediving back into the Earth.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 27 2021, @04:34PM (2 children)
Let's not forget about the SLS 737 Max. This will make SLS great again! Of course, it will mean additional delays and cost overruns. Not to worry, the senator from Alabama has assured us that these ongoing cost overruns and delays are the price of progress on rockets that are America's future.
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: 2) by Socrastotle on Wednesday January 27 2021, @07:30PM (1 child)
Gotta give one thing to Boeing/Lockheed. They finished their engine test firing [arstechnica.com] *way* ahead of schedule.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 27 2021, @08:16PM
By 'schedule' I assume you're referring to when the engines were schedule to stop firing. They had to stop the firing way ahead of schedule.
McDonnell Douglass purchased Boeing using Boeing's money. Then they moved the headquarters away from where Engineering was located and closer to where the stock market is located. Because that's what matters.
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?