Boeing Space Launch With Sunita Williams Postponed

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL (ANI)- The launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, scheduled to carry NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore to the International Space Station has been postponed after a valve glitch in the upper stage of the rocket set to propel it to space.

Rocket company United Launch Alliance’s Tom Heter III the director overseeing the launch announced the decision to delay the launch about two hours before the expected lift-off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, here.

NASA announced on social media platform X that the problem was identified with an oxygen valve on part of ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket and that the space agency, Boeing, and ULA have “scrubbed the launch opportunity on May 6 for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station due to a faulty oxygen relief valve observation on the Atlas V rocket Centaur second stage. The crew and rocket remain safe, and more information will be forthcoming.”

It said that NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams exited the Starliner spacecraft at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and will return to astronaut crew quarters.

This would have marked the first human-crewed flight for Starliner with Williams piloting the craft with fellow NASA pilot Wilmore.

Incidentally, Sunita Williams has named the spacecraft “Calypso” for her love of the ocean and in reference to the ship of famed explorer Jacques Cousteau, who sailed across the world on his ship bearing the same name.

Despite the setback, the seasoned duo maintained their composure, knowing that space travel demands patience and resilience. Clad in their distinctive Boeing pressure suits, Wilmore and Williams awaited news of the next launch window, ready to embark on their celestial journey at the earliest opportunity, as reported by CBS News.