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I am undertaking a new mission that keeps my feet firmly planted on the earth here and is a priority for my most important team – my family. I still work hard with the #Starliner team and ASNASA_Astronauts in our team. pic.twitter.com/PgdhPqwYQSOctober 7, 2020
Chris Ferguson will not command Boeing’s first group aircraft Starliner spacecraft Above all.
Ferguson, a senior astronaut who commanded NASA’s final space shuttle mission in 2011 before leaving the company for Boeing, has withdrawn from the company’s crew test in 2021 for personal reasons. The test mission will send a CST-100 Starliner spacecraft International Space Station On a shake-up trip carrying an astronaut.
NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore will be appointed while Ferguson will be commander-in-chief, who has been training backup with Ferguson and colleagues Mike Finke and Nicole Mann, both NASA astronauts, for more than two years.
Related: Boeing’s 1st Starliner flight test in photos
“Butch can step unhindered, and his previous experience with spacecraft and space station missions makes him a valuable addition to this aircraft,” said Kathy Luthers, co-executive director of NASA’s Directorate of Human Research and Operations. Said in a statement.
Wilmore spent two seasons in space for a total of 178 days, one space shuttle to orbit in 2009 and approximately 6 months aboard the station in 2014 and 2015. During that later voyage, Wilmore conducted four space missions.
Ferguson said his resignation was a difficult decision and that he was committed to helping Starliner get up and running. “But next year is very important for my family, I have done so many duties and I can’t miss it,” he said. The video report was released on Twitter today (Oct. 7).
“Chris has been a talented member of the team for this task,” Luthers said. “NASA and the Boeing Commercial Crew teams heartily commend the invaluable work he has completed and will continue to lead the development of Starliner, which will help ensure that the Starliner Crew flight test is successful.”
In 2014, Boeing signed a $ 4.2 billion contract with NASA’s Commercial Crew project, which flew at least six operational passengers aboard the spacecraft with the Starliner. SpaceX has signed a similar, $ 2.6 billion deal, which will be executed by Elon Musk’s company using its Crew Dragon capsule.
SpaceX has already flown a version of its crew flight test – The Demo-2 work, Which took NASA astronauts Bob Behanken and Doug Hurley into orbit this summer. SpaceX is now scheduled to launch its first operating aircraft, the Crew-1, on Oct. 31.
Starliner’s Road Rocker. In December 2019, the capsule Failed to meet the station as planned During its first voyage, the unmanned orbital aircraft was tested. Boeing will deny that mission early next year, before sending the astronauts to the crew flight test.
Ferguson’s departure was not the first group shake-up for the crew flight test. Finke arrived on the ship in January 2019 Eric Poe was dragged out for medical reasons.
Mike Wall is the author of a book on the search for alien life, “Out There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; explained by Carl Tate). Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter pSpacedotcom or Facebook
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