The launch attempt was called off roughly two hours ahead of the planned liftoff.

NASA and Boeing were forced to stand down from an attempted launch to the International Space Station on Monday because of a last-minute issue that cropped up with a valve on the spacecraft’s rocket.

Boeing’s Starliner capsule had been scheduled to lift off at 10:34 p.m. ET from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on its first crewed test flight. NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams were on board the capsule and strapped into their seats when the launch attempt was called off, roughly two hours ahead of the planned liftoff.

A new launch date has not yet been announced.

Mission controllers declared a launch “scrub” after an anomaly was detected on an oxygen valve on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, which the Starliner capsule was to ride into orbit.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        6 months ago

        OK, but SpaceX doesn’t launch those tests with people on board. Musk might be that dumb, but SpaceX has a whole management structure for dealing with his bullshit and stopping his worst ideas.

      • bmsok@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        But not today, thankfully. Thats what makes every scrubbed launch a success.

        Challenger and Colombia were particularly horrific because people warned that there were issues and were still given the green light for launch and reentry, respectively.

        You can’t do this stuff without making some mistakes and learning from them. But everyone did their job well this evening to ensure everyone’s safety.

        • BigFig@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Yeah not sure why I’m getting down votes. It’s a fact, people have died and it was due to lax adherence to those safety standards. Today’s launch scrub is exactly what should happen every time. A single tiny thing out of place should be a scrub. These are people’s lives on the line.

          • bmsok@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            I misinterpreted where you were coming from with your comment. My apologies. I think we’re on the same page. Safety first.