WASHINGTON: Indian-origin Sunita Williams’ piloted ‘Starliner’ is set to launch into space today, after the joint mission of US space agency NASA and aircraft major Boeing was previously hit by snags. The flight will mark Williams’ third space mission.
According to NASA, the flight to the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre around 10 pm Indian Standard Time today.
‘Suni’ Williams and fellow NASA astronaut Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore will be the first humans to go aboard Starliner spacecraft as part of the US space agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
The Starliner spacecraft will be catapulted into space on an Atlas 5 rocket of the rocket company United Launch Alliance. It will dock with the ISS on Sunday and the astronauts will be at the ISS conducting a range of tests for about a week.
If this mission is successful, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner for crewed rotation missions to the ISS.