Crew 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 on September 28, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
The three astronauts and one cosmonaut on NASA’s Crew 12 flight to the International Space Station have entered quarantine in preparation for their upcoming launch in about two weeks. This is a normal step in the launch campaign, and is designed to reduce the chances of communicable diseases affecting the Crew 12 flyers as well as others already aboard ISS.
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will remain in Houston until February 6th, when they are expected to fly to Kennedy Space Center for final launch preparations.
Launch Windows
NASA has also announced launch windows for Crew 12:
Crew-12 Launch Windows
SpaceX Crew-12 Launch Windows
Mission
NASA/SpaceX Crew-12
Destination
International Space Station
Launch Site
SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Window 1
Feb. 11 — 6:00 a.m. EST
Window 2
Feb. 12 — 5:38 a.m. EST
Window 3
Feb. 13 — 5:15 a.m. EST
Note
NASA continues working toward potential launch windows for both Artemis II and Crew-12 in February. Final launch dates will be determined closer to flight.
The launch will be the second crewed flight from SLC-40. Crew 9, carrying Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, lifted off from the site on September 28, 2024, marking the second crewed launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station since Apollo 7 launched from LC-34. The ill-fated Boeing Crewed Flight Test (CFT) aboard Starliner was the first. The two CFT astronauts already aboard ISS, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, became part of Crew 9 once it was at ISS.
Crew 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 on September 28, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Rendering of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner docked at ISS Graphic: Boeing Corporation
During the NASA Administrator Briefing from the Kennedy Space Center mainly centered around Crew-8 readiness today, Steve Stich, the Manager of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program gave some insight about the status of the planned first crewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. That launch is currently planned for late April of this year.
Steve Stich, Manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at the NASA Administrator Briefing held at the NASA Press Site at Kennedy Space Center on February 28, 2024 Photo: NASA livestream
On the Starliner capsule’s readiness, Stich said “Over at Boeing the Starliner spacecraft is pretty much closed out. We’ve loaded the fluid for the cooling system. The next big event, really, is to load propellant on the crew module and propellant in the service module. And that’ll happen in mid-March.”
“We’re going to work hand in hand with Joel [Montalbano, NASA’s Manager of the International Space Station Program] on the right decision points to go fuel Starliner. As Joel said, it’s a busy time, so we may adjust the date. Right now, we’re targeting the Crew Flight test in late April.”
Stich also mentioned that the launch date for Starliner may be affected by the availability of a docking port, so the late April date appears that it may still be somewhat fluid. The good news for Boeing is that the spacecraft appears to be in good condition to fly, pending additional flight readiness reviews.
ULA Stacking Atlas-V for Starliner at SLC-41
On a post on the X platform yesterday, NASA Commercial Crew said “A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket was moved into the company’s Vertical Integration Facility to start stacking operations ahead of the first crewed Starliner launch to [the International] Space Station.”
Atlas V being prepared in the Vertical Integration Facility at SLC-41 on February 27, 2024. Photo: NASA
If The Crew Flight Test Is Successful?
Stich said that there are effectively two crews training for Starliner flights: “We really have two crews, primarily in training,” he said. “Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, for CFT. Mike Finke is the backup astronaut for that flight.”
NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Mike Fincke, right, pose for photographs while visiting NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, May 18, 2022, in advance of the agency’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo: NASA
Stich did not identify an additional astronaut that would be training for Starliner One, the first operational mission of the CST-100 Starliner system. He did, however, outline post-CFT plans for the Starliner system. “Our plan is to really watch the progress of how Starliner One is progressing with the hardware build and the certification products,” he said.
“Just like we did for [SpaceX Crew Dragon] Demo-2, to get to our [Starliner] Crew One flight,” Stich added, “We have a certification process that we go through after that test flight to get to the first Starliner mission. We’ll do that toward the end of this year.”
Assuming all goes well for the Starliner CFT mission, Stich said that, “The Starliner One mission is scheduled for February of 2025.”
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