# @boeing on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/BL32gtnB5q0
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/76051395-boeing-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/b29b020db5.jpg
- **Posted:** 2016-10-22T16:56:08.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Boeing Company (@Boeing) — https://gondola.cc/Boeing

## Caption

Today we are looking ahead to Starliner’s journey once it is ready for launch. 
Three weeks before launch, the journey from Kennedy Space Center (nasakennedy) will begin. It will take several hours to complete the seven-mile ride on the spacecraft transport vehicle to Space Launch Complex 41 on the northern edge of neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Upon arrival, the Starliner will be lifted by crane into the Vertical Integration Facility, a tall, narrow building, where it will be stacked atop an United Launch Alliance (ulalaunch) Atlas V rocket sitting on a Mobile Launch Platform. While there, they will undergo a series of tests and flight preparations, and the launch team will rehearse the countdown. 
The day before launch, the Mobile Launch Platform will travel 1,800 feet (550 meters) by rail onto the launch pad, where the rocket will be loaded with propellant and the spacecraft powered up for final pre-launch checkout. 
Once the launch sequence is set in motion, the countdown will echo over an outdoor PA system. The kerosene-fueled rocket and attached solid rocket motors will ignite with a yellowish glare. The ground will tremble. Water will come pouring onto the pad to deaden the sound and ease the vibration, protecting the flight vehicle and systems on the ground. Huge plumes of steam will cascade up and around it as exhaust is redirected away from the pad through a concrete cave called a “flame bucket.” Crowds will cheer as Starliner lifts off the ground, carried by an Atlas V rocket generating 1.5 million pounds (6.7 million newtons) of thrust before completing its job and separating nearly 15 minutes into flight. Following six to eight hours of flight, Starliner will arrive at the International Space Station (ISS), which orbits 240 miles (390 kilometers) above Earth. 
Shown here, technicians install components to the upper dome of the Starliner. Visit the link in our bio to learn more about how the Starliner team prepares the spacecraft for its first flight.
#starliner #CST100 #rocket #launch #space #iss #nasa #spacecraft

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 4,652
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- **Comments:** 10

## Credits

No public credits are recorded here. This does not identify who made the post.

## Tags

nasa, cst100, starliner, rocket, launch, iss, space, spacecraft

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