NASA assigns 2 astronauts to fly on Boeing Starliner's 1st crewed mission

The first crewed test ride of Boeing's Starliner capsule will be taken by someone.

Starliner's first crewed mission to the International Space Station will be piloted by Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams. Williams will serve as a backup pilot and Wilmore will be in charge.

The last nine years have been devoted to these first Boeing missions and Suni. The chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston said in a statement (opens in new tab) that Butch has done a great job leading the team.

Boeing's Starliners is a next- generation spaceship.

It was great to see Starliner's successful journey to the International Space Station last month. As they fly the first crewed Starliner mission, we will be cheering for them.

The OFT-2 was an uncrewed shakeout cruise that took place on May 19 and May 25. The success of that mission appears to have paved the way for CFT, although NASA and Boeing are still analyzing OFT-2 data to determine what fixes or upgrades, if any, will be needed before Wilmore and Williams can climb aboard Starliners

The data reviews are likely to go on for a while. The launch schedule assessment for CFT is expected to be completed at the end of July.

OFT-2 lifted off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the same location. CFT is expected to last about two weeks, though that and other mission parameters are not set in stone, and NASA could extend it up to six months if needed.

NASA will certify Starliner for flights to and from the space station if CFT goes well. The first of those missions is called Starliner-1, and the astronauts are training to fly on it. She is training on the Dragon capsule in case she is needed to fly on it.

NASA signed contracts with two companies in the past two years. Five crewed missions have been launched by the company with the Dragon and Falcon 9 rockets. The two-person test flight called demo-2 that lifted off in May 2020 is included in that tally.

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