Important Innovations

  Looking To Launch Starliner First Un-crewed, Then Crewed                                                       Source:  Boeing Spaceship with Checkered Past Boeing has built the Starliner, a next generation spacecraft, that's designed to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS).  It is an alternative vehicle to the highly successful SpaceX Crew Dragon that brought two astronauts back and forth to the ISS this past summer.   The Starliner has been plagued with development problems, test failures and schedule slippages.  Now it has lost its astronaut Commander Chris Ferguson.  Ferguson is an engineer who helped Boeing develop the space vehicle. December 2019 Test Starliner has experienced a rocky road to development.  In December 2019, during an un-crewed flight, software problems caused the engines to misfire.  Starliner entered the wrong orbital path, never reached the ISS and was forced to return to Earth.  Now, for "personal reasons" Boeing e

Starliner Manned Flight to International Space Station Source:  Boeing Starliner Boeing and NASA Commercial Astronauts At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a veteran team of astronauts are training for the trip of a lifetime.  They'll be launched into space onboard Boeing's new spacecraft Starliner to the International Space Station.  The Starliner is a next generation space capsule designed to take people to and from low Earth orbit. For Boeing, NASA is the anchor company for Starliner, beginning with missions to the ISS with NASA and NASA sponsored crews.  The space vehicle will eventually take tourists on space voyages. Launch Time The Starliner mission will launch in late 2019 or in early 2020.  The five person crew, two women and three men, are Boeing and NASA veteran astronauts.  This mission underscores the importance of the growing commercial business opportunities in space.  You might call it an intergalactic global business frontier that is just opening