Piece Falls Off Boeing Starliner as It Trundles Toward Launchpad

After years of setbacks, Boeing is finally rolling out its Starliner spacecraft to the launchpad today for its second attempt to rendezvous with the International Space Station.

It ran into another mistake along the way, doing no favors for the reputation it has for jankiness. While strapped to the back of a large truck, a piece of the capsule's window appeared to pop off, tumbling down to the asphalt as seen in footage shared by CBS space news reporter William Harwood.

OFT-2: During the rollover to pad 41, as the Starliner neared the Vehicle Assembly Building, a protective window cover somehow fell off the capsule and tumbled to the road; after a brief stop to determine what had happened, the trip continued pic.twitter.com/GAS6VwxYf5

— William Harwood (@cbs_spacenews) May 4, 2022

After a brief stop to check for damage, the procession resumed its journey to Space Launch Complex 41.

Boeing confirmed to Harwood that the window cover had fallen off the capsule.

It doesn't sound like a terribly serious issue, but Boeing has been through a lot with the development of Starliner, its competitor to the Crew Dragon capsule.

Development Hell

Boeing cut several crucial corners in the planning of Starliner, which almost ended in disaster, after a NASA safety review.

The second uncrewed test flight of the capsule has been delayed several times due to a number of issues, including Florida's humidity corroding valves.

The Starliner capsule is getting ready to be loaded onto a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for its second attempt to make it into space and dock with the station.

The company has been running around. Both Boeing and Musk's company have been working on a space capsule that will be used to deliver astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.

We can only hope that Boeing has done its homework this time around and that the long-awaited spacecraft can finally move on from the development hell it has been stuck in for years now.

Boeing Says Oops, Its Multibillion Dollar Spacecraft Can't Handle Humidity.