NASA Astronauts Get Advance Look at CST-100 Starliner Trainers

Posted January 8, 2016 at 12:14pm

“We have been learning about the spacecraft displays through slideshows. It’s great to finally see what we are actually going to train on,” said astronaut Eric Boe. “It helps to work with the engineers to give input on the trainers so the devices are ready when they arrive at Johnson Space Center.”  

Astronaut Bob Behnken added that the training equipment is comprehensive.  

“Historically, some trainers were just a simple component that might have a very specific task,” he said. “This one has a lot of capability with multiple tasks coming together so it can execute more complicated training scenarios.”  

Two of the trainers are to be delivered to NASA in the autumn of 2016. Boeing also is building an immersive, high-fidelity training system that’s to be delivered in early 2017 to Houston’s Johnson Space Center.  

The CST-100 Starliner’s   first crew flight test to the space station is expected in 2017 and will be Boeing’s first commercial flight transporting humans to that destination.