A computer graphic displaying Boeing ’s spacesuit for Starliner cosmonaut . NASA / Boeing
Two NASA astronauts are making final preparations directly ahead of the first crew launching of the new Boeing Starliner capsule , which will found from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida later tonight , Monday May 6 . Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be aboard for liftoff at 10:34 p.m. ET ( here ’s how to watch ) , when an Alliance Atlas V garden rocket launchesthe Starliner for its examination flight to the International Space Station ( ISS ) .
The weather calculate solid food for the launching tonight , with 95 % chance of well-disposed atmospheric condition . And Wilmore and Williams have beensuiting upin the new Starliner suits specially designed for this mission .
A graphic displaying Boeing’s spacesuit for Starliner astronauts.NASA/Boeing
The grim suits , different from thewhite suitsworn on SpaceX Dragon missions , have been design to be low-cal and more flexible than previous spacesuits , according to NASA , with zippers at the join to allow for motion and an connected helmet and vizor . They are also lighter than previous spacesuit so less clumsy to move in .
The incorporated vizor is a best-loved new feature of the lawsuit , Starliner spacesuit leadTori Wills Pedrotty saidwhen show the suit to mass medium last month . The broad dome means a very wide athletic field of view , with the power for astronauts to comfortably become their head to get a better view around them . But the biggest marketing point of the case is its weighting , which is just around 20 pounds including shoes and accessory . Compared to the aged spacesuits worn by Space Shuttle astronauts , the young causa are almost 10 pounds lighter .
Williams has expressed her favourable reception of the new look , saying in an earlier press league : “ I really like these suit of clothes . They ’re really courteous , slick , well-off causa — easy to get in and soft to get out of , give up a lot of mobility , ” she say . She also described how the helmet flip-flop over from behind and then closes with a zipper , exchangeable to pressure slide fastener used in previous spacesuits , but unusual in that the helmet and suit are one piece .
“ I cogitate they credibly put that helmet the fashion they did because I keep having this reoccurring dream that it ’s launch time and I ca n’t find out my helmet , ” Wilmore joked .
Williams and Wilmore have now suited up in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center and have headed out to the inking pad , quick to figure the capsule . But before they go forth , they had one more authoritative task to perform : the ritual board game play before any astronaut launch from Kennedy . “ The breaker point of the game is that the commander must apply up all his or her bad luck before the launch , so the gang can only get out for the digs when the commandant lose , ” NASAexplains .
