Two astronauts are getting ready to fly a new spaceship built by Boeing, making this only the sixth time in history that NASA has flown a new passenger-grade spacecraft.
The pair, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, are seasoned Navy test pilots who have each spent six months in space. They are expected to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, sending the new Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station.
Barring any bad weather or other last-minute hiccups, the test flight could lift off as early as 10:34 p.m. ET on May 6.
“When we lay back on our backs on Monday evening, it’s going to be real stuff, and the countdown is gonna be real, and it’s gonna be a really thrilling time,” said Wilmore, the crew commander.
Here’s how to watch this historic event.
Beginning two days before the planned liftoff time, NASA will host a live video feed of the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. The official pre-launch broadcast will begin at about 6:30 p.m. ET on May 6, about four hours prior to launch.
Boeing’s Starliner has faced years of delays after NASA hired the company in 2014 to build a spaceship, along with SpaceX. The spacecraft has flown two times previously without any astronauts inside. During the first uncrewed test in 2019, the ship got on the wrong orbit due to software problems and didn’t make it to the space station. The company did a redo of the test in 2022, which NASA largely viewed as successful.
But getting to its first flight with humans on board has been a struggle. Boeing wanted to do the crewed test flight last year, but flammable interior tape and parachute lines that didn’t meet safety standards stymied the launch, putting it off to 2024.
Despite the setbacks, NASA says Starliner is ready to fly humans. If it launches on schedule, the ship will dock at the station just before 1 a.m. ET on May 8.
