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NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore<\/a> and Suni Williams<\/a> will be the first to fly aboard Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station, and the name of the spacecraft ferrying them to the orbiting laboratory holds a special place in Williams\u2019 heart.<\/p>\n Williams named the crew capsule Calypso in 2019<\/a> to pay tribute to the explorer Jacques Cousteau, who sailed across the world on his own ship named bearing the same name. Cousteau\u2019s goal was to learn about the ocean and teach others about the wonders of the sea. Williams believes Starliner can do the same for space.<\/p>\n The Starliner spacecraft, with a diameter of 15 feet (4.56 meters), can carry up to four astronauts, or a mix of crew and cargo, for NASA missions to low Earth orbit for the agency\u2019s Commercial Crew Program.<\/p>\n The spacecraft, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, is scheduled for liftoff at 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.<\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Elyna Niles-Carnes <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be the first to fly aboard Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station, and the name of the spacecraft ferrying them to the orbiting laboratory holds a special place in Williams\u2019 heart. Williams named the crew capsule Calypso in 2019 to pay tribute to the explorer \u2026 Continue reading