With lift from ULA, Boeing Starliner crew en route to space station

With the aid of the Tennessee Valley, two NASA astronauts are their way in a historic mission to the International Space Station.

A Decatur-built United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carried a Boeing Starliner spacecraft into orbit Wednesday on a roughly 25 1/2 hour journey to the ISS. After a 10:52 a.m. EDT launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams are expected to rendezvous and dock with the space station around 12:15 p.m. EDT Thursday. 

“Safety is a critical part of the ULA decision-making process, and we are deeply honored to have been entrusted with the responsibility of starting the astronauts on their journey to the International Space Station, one that we will watching throughout their mission,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. “ULA has performed a tremendous amount of work in conjunction with our partners at Boeing and NASA to ensure our designs provide the highest level of safety to the crew and we will continue to prioritize our dedication to safety as we look forward to future launches in support of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.”

The crew flight test mission makes history in several ways.

As the first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, Williams is the first female astronaut to fly on the first flight of a crewed spacecraft. The launch also marks the first crewed launch on the ULA Atlas V rocket and the first crewed launch on an Atlas-family class rocket since Gordon Cooper on the last Mercury program flight aboard “Faith 7” in May 1963. 

Thank you to our teams and partners @NASA, @ulalaunch, @NASAKennedy, @SLDelta45, and @NASA_Johnson for your vital role in today's #Starliner launch. pic.twitter.com/D1X1o2RXSw

— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) June 5, 2024

U.S. Rep. Dale Strong, whose district includes a Boeing plant, the ULA rocket plant and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, offered congratulations on the mission.

“I congratulate Boeing, United Launch Alliance, and NASA on the first successful crewed launch of the Starliner Spacecraft,” Strong (R-Monrovia) said. “This launch was the result of a critical collaboration and years of dedicated work, much of which took place right here in North Alabama.

“I also want to congratulate ULA on maintaining its 100% launch success rate, a testament to the quality of their work.”

While the mission is continuing, the Atlas V’s job is complete and delivered the Starliner and crew to a 98-nautical mile sub-orbital trajectory. Following separation from the Atlas V, the Starliner engines ignited to place the crew on their orbital path to the space station.

“My congratulations and sincerest gratitude to our unrivaled team and exceptional partners on the launch of a new era in human spaceflight aboard one of the most reliable rockets in the world,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO. “It’s a profound honor to assist in enabling assured reliability and redundancy of crewed launches.”

Measuring 10 feet in diameter and 41.5 feet in length, the Centaur upper stage uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its twin Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A-4-2 engines. The burn of the Centaur’s dual engines lasted a little more than seven minutes before engine cutoff and separation from Starliner. 

Following its separation, the Atlas Centaur landed in the ocean near Australia. 

This story originally appeared in 256 Today.