NASA Invites Media to First Astronaut Launch Aboard Boeing's Starliner

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Feb 21, 2024, 17:29 ET

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, the agency opened media accreditation for the launch of NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. The mission will be the company's first Starliner spacecraft mission with crew.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft approaches the International Space Station on May 20, 2022. Credit: NASA

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will launch aboard Starliner on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and dock at the orbiting laboratory, where they will stay for up to two weeks. Liftoff is currently targeted for mid-April 2024 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system, including launch, docking, and return to Earth in the desert of the western United States.

Following a successful mission, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and systems for crewed missions to the space station.

U.S. media may apply separately for a photo opportunity during the rollout of the Starliner spacecraft from Boeing's Commercial Cargo and Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The operational activity is scheduled to take place in early April.

Media accreditation deadlines are as follows:

International media without U.S. citizenship interested in covering the launch must apply by 11:59 p.m., Thursday, March 14
U.S. media interested in a photo opportunity of Starliner rollout must apply by 11:59 p.m., Thursday, March 21
U.S. media interested in covering the launch must apply for credentials by 11:59 p.m., Sunday, April 7

All accreditation requests must be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

NASA's media accreditation policy is online. For questions about accreditation or special logistical requests, please email: [email protected]. Requests for space for satellite trucks, tents, or electrical connections are due by Monday, April 15.

For other questions, please contact the newsroom at NASA Kennedy: 321-867-2468.

Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo: 321-501-8425, o Messod Bendayan: 256-930-1371.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry through a public-private partnership to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil. The goal of the program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation on space station missions, which will allow for additional research time.

For more information about the agency's Commercial Crew Program, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew 

SOURCE NASA