Astronaut steps down from Starliner crewed launch to attend daughter’s wedding

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — NASA and Boeing have announced a major crew change to the first crewed launch of the CST-100 Starliner next year.

Boeing astronaut and shuttle veteran Chris Ferguson has decided to stand down from the launch due to other commitments. A Boeing spokesperson said one of Ferguson’s commitments that will result in him missing the crewed launch is his daughter’s wedding.

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On Wednesday, Boeing and NASA announced that astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore will join astronauts Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann for the Boeing crewed flight test.

Wilmore has been training side-by-side with the crew since being named the sole backup for all flight positions in 2018.

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Ferguson will continue to lead in the development of Starliner, which still is targeting a second uncrewed flight test to the space station no earlier than this December.

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