WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th August, 2020) African-American astronaut Jeanette Epps will be the third member of the first Boeing Starliner manned mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said in a press release on Tuesday.
"Epps will join NASA astronauts Sunita Willaims and Josh Cassada for a six-month expedition planned for a launch in 2021 to the orbiting space laboratory," the release said. "The flight will follow NASA certification after a successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 and Crew Flight Test with astronauts."
The three US astronauts will fly on the first operational crewed flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on a mission to the ISS, Boeing said in a separate release.
Boeing and NASA have implemented more than 80 changes to the new manned-flight Starliner spacecraft after an unmanned test in December of 2019 failed to meet its intended goals and are looking to test launch it later this year.
In its December test flight, the Boeing Starliner did not orbit at its planned altitude above the earth and proved unable to successfully dock with the ISS because of a software problem.
The Boeing Starliner is a $4.2 billion next-generation crew capsule with a capacity of up to 7 astronauts, a free-flight operating capability of up to 60 hours, and the ability to remain docked in orbit for up to 210 days.
