I am taking on a new mission, one that puts my feet firmly on the ground and prioritizes my most important driver – my family. I will still work hard on our staff with the #StarLinnerTeam and @NASA_Astronauts. pic.twitter.com/PgdhPqwYQSOctober 7, 2020
Chris Ferguson will not fly Boeing’s first plane Starliner spacecraft after all.
Ferguson, a veteran astronaut who commanded NASA’s last space shuttle mission in 2011 before leaving the agency for Boeing, has withdrawn from the company’s crew flight test in 2021, citing personal reasons. The test mission will send a CST-100 Starliner spacecraft International Space Station An astronaut on a cruise ship.
Ferguson will be replaced by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, who has been training as a backup for two years with Ferguson and fellow crumates Mike Fink and Nicole Mann, both NASA astronauts. More than
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“Butch will be able to move smoothly, and his previous experience with both space shuttle and space station missions makes him a significant addition to this flight,” said Casa Lloyders, associate manager of NASA’s Directorate of Human Exploration and Operations Missions. , Said in a statement.
Wilmore has built a total of 178 days of space on two missions, a space shuttle flight taken to the orbiting lab in 2009 and a stay of about six months on the station in 2014 and 2015. During subsequent missions, Wilmore operated four spacewalks.
Ferguson said leaving the post was a difficult decision and he is committed to helping Starliner move forward and run. “But next year is very important for my family, and I have made many commitments that I can’t risk missing,” she said in one. Video statement posted on Twitter today (October 7).
“Chris has been a talented member of the crew for this mission,” Lloyds said. “The NASA and Boeing Commercial Crew teams have lauded his invaluable work, and he will continue to lead the development of the Starliner, which will help ensure that the Starliner Crew Flight Test is a success.”
In 2014, Boeing signed a $ 4.2 billion deal with Starliner’s NASA commercial crew program to go to the space station and fly at least six operational missions. SpaceX signed a ਲਗਭਗ 2.6 billion deal at the same time, which Alan Musk’s company will complete using its Crew Dragon capsule.
SpaceX has already blown up its own version of the Crew Flight Test Demo-2 Mission, Which brought NASA astronauts Bob Behkenken and Doug Hurley to the orbit this summer. SpaceX is now gearing up for its first operational flight station, Crew-1, which is set to launch on October 31.
The Starliner road has hardened. In December 2019, capsules Failed to complete the station as planned During its first mission, the Unnecessary Rabbit Flight Test. Boeing will signal the mission early next year, before the crew will place astronauts for flight tests.
Ferguson’s departure is not the first crew move for a crew flight test. Fink then rode in January 2019 Eric Bow was withdrawn for medical reasons.
Mike Wall is the author of “Come There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; featured by Carl Tate), a book about exploring alien life. Follow him on Twitter Micheldwall. Follow us on Twitter @spacedotcom or Facebook
