Two astronauts will put the Boeing Starliner through its paces to verify it's ready to begin launching operational crew ferry flights to the space station.
An Atlas 5 rocket carrying astronauts for the first time in six decades was primed for blastoff Monday night to boost Boeing's long-delayed Starliner crew ferry ship into orbit for its first piloted test flight to the International Space Station .
'While he said he was confident the Starliner was up to the task, Free said he did not want to 'get too far ahead' since the crew has yet to complete a successful mission. But 'when we do,' he added, 'and when we certify Starliner, the United States will have two unique human space transportations that provide critical redundancy for the ISS access.'But it hasn't been easy.
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