WASHINGTON – An Atlas 5 rocket carrying astronauts for the first time was fueled for blastoff Monday night to boost Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner crew ferry ship into orbit for its first piloted test flight. But trouble with a valve in the rocket’s upper stage forced mission managers to order a scrub just two hours before takeoff, CBS News reported.
It was a frustrating disappointment for commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams, who were in the process of strapping in for launch when the scrub was announced.
At issue is how many times the valve in question, trying to seat itself, rapidly opened and closed, causing a humming sound engineers could hear at the launch pad. Similar behavior has been noticed in the past and engineers have a workaround that would normally resolve the problem.
