Christopher Ferguson, commander of the final space shuttle flight and now Boeing executive, has resigned as commander of the company’s first pilot test flight. Troubled CST-100 Starliner The commercial spacecraft, he and Boeing announced Wednesday. He has been replaced by NASA astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore.
Ferguson tweeted, “I’m taking on a new mission, one that keeps my feet firmly planted here on earth and my most important crew – my family.” “I’ll still work hard with the #startliner team and અમારાNASA_Astronotes on our crew.”
In the video attached to the tweet, Ferguson, 59, a father of three, called his decision to step down “difficult and personal.”
“I am deeply committed to human spaceflight, I am dedicated to the Starliner program and I am passionate about the team that built it,” he said. “But this year is very important for my family. I’ve made a number of commitments that I can’t risk missing out on.”
“I’m not going anywhere, I’m just not going into space next year. The Boeing team has been very understanding, the crew is doing wonderfully and thank you for your understanding.”
NASA
This was the second crew change of mission since Ferguson and astronauts Eric Bow and Nicole Mann. Flight assigned In August Gust 2018. Bone was pulled from the crew The following January due to an uncertain medical problem. He was replaced by astronaut Michael Finker.
While no longer flying, Ferguson, a former Navy F-14 carrier pilot, Topgun graduate and test pilot instructor, will continue to play a key role in the development of the Starliner, serving as Boeing’s director of mission integration and rations operations as well as crew systems.
“Chris is my personal thank you for his leadership,” said Lane Carrett, president and CEO of Boeing Defense at Space & Security. “He is putting his family first, which Boeing fully supports. We are fortunate that he will continue to take an active role on the Starliner program and bring his depth and experience into human spaceflight to the program.”
Ferguson’s departure from the crew came amidst upheaval at Boeing in the wake of the troubled situation. Unpiloted test flight Last December’s Starliner Capsule, Crew Flight Test, or CFT, as the only original crew member of the mission, leaving the Marine Corps F / A-18 fighter pilot and rookie astronaut, leaving Man.
After the December flight, Boeing managers decided to launch one Repeat mission To test the performance of the necessary software upgrades and other changes later this year or early next. Two years later than expected when the initial crew assignments were announced, it has pushed its first piloted Starliner flight for the summer 2021 period until the summer 2021.
NASA
SpaceX, meanwhile, is Ready to get started Four astronauts arrive at the International Space Station following a successful pilot test flight of its crew Dragon Capsule on October 31 Early this summer By Ferguson’s co-pilot, astronauts Robert Bankson and Douglas Hurley on the final shuttle mission.
Ferguson retired from NASA in July 2011 after his third and final shuttle flight and went to work for Boeing, helping the company develop the Starliner merchant crew ship. In August 2018, to everyone’s surprise, it was named Starliner’s first pilot mission.
“I have full confidence in the Starliner vehicle, the men and women who built and tested it, and the NASA astronauts who eventually flew it,” Ferguson said in a Boeing statement.
“The Boeing team has learned all the lessons from our first unopened orbital flight test and is building the Starliner the safest new crew spacecraft ever. Butch, Nicole and Mike support me here when they prove it.”
Wilmore thanked Ferguson for his “exceptional leadership and insight into the most complex and most capable vehicle.”
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