This NASA photo shows a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner Spacecraft on top.Boeing will attempt to bring its spaceflight program on track Tuesday by flying its Starliner capsule uncrewed to the International Space Station (ISS) after it failed its last test in 2019.The launch of the spaceship will take place on an Atlas V rocket, built by United Launch Alliance and launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida at 1:20 p.m. Eastern Time (1720 GMT).NASA will have a live stream of the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission (OFT-2) available on their website.The Starliner capsule will launch approximately 30 minutes later. It will then fire its thrusters and enter orbit. This will begin a one-day trip to the station. Docking is scheduled for Wednesday at 1:37 pm.Current weather forecasts predict a 60% chance of launch. Clouds and lightning are the main obstacles.Although the test flight was scheduled for Friday, it was rescheduled because a Russian science module accidentally fired its thrusters after docking with the ISS. This caused the orbital outpost to lose its normal orientation.NASA's Space Shuttle program was ended in 2011. SpaceX and Boeing were awarded multi-billion-dollar contracts to provide astronauts with taxi services to the station. This would end US dependence on Russian rockets for their journey.SpaceX has now completed three crewed missions, which means that the program is moving faster.Boeing's program is behind. During a December 2019 uncrewed test flight, the Starliner capsule encountered software problems and failed to dock at ISS. It returned to Earth early.NASA identified later 80 corrective actions Boeing had to take, and described the test as "high visibility close calls", during which the spacecraft could have been lost two times.Steve Stich, NASA's Commercial Crew Program Manager, stated last week that he was confident this time.He stated, "We want it all to go smoothly, we expect it will go well and we have done all the preparations possible."Starliner is a fantastic vehicle, but we also know how difficult it can be. It's a test flight, so I fully expect that we'll learn something from this flight.The spacecraft will carry more than 400 pounds (180 kg) of cargo and crew supplies to ISS. It will also return more than 550 lbs of cargo including air tanks when it lands in western US desert after its mission.Learn more about Boeing's Starliner capsule, which is currently aiming for July launch2021 AFP
