Boeing Starliner blasts off in historic launch for NASA

Brian Lada

5 June 2024 at 8:46 am·1-min read

The thunderous roar of an Atlas 5 rocket filled the air along the Florida coast on Wednesday morning as two astronauts began their journey to the International Space Station in a historic mission.

At 10:52 a.m. EDT, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, while in the Boeing Starliner, the first crewed flight for the spacecraft.

The weather was picture-perfect for the launch, which had been delayed several times.

Boeing's Starliner capsule atop an Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a mission to the International Space Station, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

It will take around 24 hours for Starliner to reach the International Space Station. After docking, Williams and Wilmore will spend eight days living in the orbiting laboratory while testing the Starliner spacecraft's functionality before returning home. The capsule is expected to parachute to a landing at one of several possible locations across the southwestern United States.

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