NASA

New Shepard will be flying on this mission from Launch Site One in West Texas, with liftoff targeted for 8:00 am CDT (6:30 pm IST). The New Shepard programme has completed 37 human flights so far.

Williams and Willmore, who became the first astronauts to ride Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on 5 June, have had their eight-day mission extended to over two months in space. According to NASA officials, technical issues with the Starliner may pose risks during the return trip.

NASA will now bring the Boeing Starliner back to Earth without the crew after all. This will give NASA and Boeing more opportunities to continue evaluating data collection with the Starliner on its way home with less risk to the crew.

The flight was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex-41 by Starliner – a Boeing company – on June 5 before heading to the space laboratory on June 6.

Expected to reach the ISS around 9:45 p.m. on Thursday, the capsule with NASA's crew is set to dock with the Harmony module's forward hatch.

The mission, which is to send NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the International Space Station, was originally scheduled to launch on May 25.

In response to the problem, Boeing announced that the next launch window will be no earlier than Friday, May 10. The scrubbed launch decision was made after anomalies were detected in the pressure regulation valve of the liquid oxygen tank in the Centaur upper stage of the ULA Atlas V launch vehicle.

Nelson stressed the urgency for the United States to maintain its leadership in space exploration, particularly regarding lunar missions. Expressing apprehension about the prospect of China staking territorial claims on the moon, he underscored the imperative for the US to assert its presence in space exploration initiatives.

At the core of NASA's Quesst mission, the X-59 aims to provide crucial data to prompt a reevaluation of regulations prohibiting supersonic flight over land. For half a century, such flights have been restricted due to the disruptive sonic booms that startle communities below.