China News Service, June 17 (Xinhua) According to a comprehensive report, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the list of test flight crews to take the Boeing-made "Starliner" spacecraft to the International Space Station has been determined.
This is the first manned test mission of the "Starliner".
On May 19, local time, Boeing's "Starliner" was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States, to the International Space Station.
Photo courtesy of China News Agency NASA/Joel Kowsky
Barry Wilmore will serve as the crew commander and Sunny Williams will serve as the pilot, the report said.
They will live and work on the International Space Station for about two weeks.
On May 25, local time, the "Starliner" returned to Earth after staying at the space station for about a week and landed successfully.
The report said that this marked the end of a critical test flight of the”Starliner”, demonstrating its ability to launch into space, dock with the space station and finally return safely.
According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, since 2014, Boeing has been building the "Starliner" manned spacecraft under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The project was delayed several times for technical reasons.
The company's rival, SpaceX, was awarded the contract at the same time as Boeing and has carried out several scheduled flights to the International Space Station for NASA.