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Starliner's Redo & Measuring The Pulse Of Mars

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is secured atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on July 17, 2021. Photo: NASA
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The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is secured atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on July 17, 2021. Starliner will launch on the Atlas V for Boeing’s second Orbital Flight Test (OFT-2) for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The spacecraft rolled out from Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center earlier in the day.

Boeing’s Starliner is set to launch on an uncrewed mission from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station later this week on a critical test mission to certify the vehicle to fly astronauts.

It’s a redo of a previous test attempt in late 2019 that failed to reach the space station. We’ll speak with Michelle Parker, Boeing’s space and launch chief engineer about the mission and what the team learned from the previous attempt.

Then, a robot on Mars is measuring the pulse of the planet. NASA’s InSight mission is listening to seismic activity and its findings are shedding some light on what’s happening below the surface of Mars.

We’ll speak with space journalist and WeMartians podcast host Jake Robins about the findings and what’s below the rust colored surface of Mars.

Brendan covers space news for WMFE, everything from rocket launches to the latest scientific discoveries in our universe. He hosts WMFE's weekly radio show and podcast "Are We There Yet?" which explores human space exploration. Brendan is a native Floridian, born and raised in Broward County. He moved to Central Florida in 2005 to attend the University of Central Florida. He began working at WMFE as a college intern where he discovered his love for public radio.