Another setback for the crisis-ridden spaceship “Starliner”: Due to new technical problems, a first manned test flight to the International Space Station must be postponed, as the US space agency NASA and the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced at a conference on Thursday. There are problems with the parachute system and a strap on a cable connector that turned out to be flammable. NASA and Boeing representatives declined to say whether the test flight could go ahead this year.
The “Starliner” was supposed to depart July 21 at the earliest with NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard for the ISS and would stay there for about a week. This date had also been postponed several times before.
In May 2022, the “Starliner” completed a successful unmanned flight to the ISS for the first time and spent four days there – an important test for the spacecraft. In the future, it will carry astronauts to the ISS as an alternative to SpaceX’s “Crew Dragon” space capsule. However, due to a number of problems, the project is well behind schedule. (saw/sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
