“I’m kissing them on the forehead,” Boeing engineer plans send-off for Starliner astronauts

When astronauts climbed into the space shuttle in preparation for flight, the closeout crew sealing the hatch gave the astronauts a high-five. It became a launch-day tradition.

But for the first Starliner launch with a crew onboard, the Boeing project engineer who will say goodbye to the two astronauts said he wants something more personal.

"I'm kissing them on the forehead," said Armando Loli, senior project engineer of Boeing's Tech 5 Launch Pad Team.

The journey for the Boeing Starliner to get to this point has been a long one and for at least two Boeing engineers, that's meant a lot more time getting to know Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two astronauts who will fly Starliner on its first crewed mission next month. Everything about this mission has become much more personal.

"It’s like graduation day, or the birth of your child. It’s one of those huge life events that you’ve been preparing for for so long. There aren’t any words to even describe it," said Dee Dobson, a systems engineering technician at Boeing.

Loli and Dobson spoke to FLORIDA TODAY as the Starliner made its middle-of-the-night rollout Tuesday to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 41. Launch of the Starliner on its first Crew Flight Test is scheduled for 10:34 p.m. May 6 to send Wilmore and Williams to the International Space Station.

Don't miss the next launch: Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule for SpaceX, ULA, NASA in Florida

Boeing aims to catch up to SpaceX

The day the Starliner spacecraft was finally mated to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for the crew flight test was a long time coming for the team at Boeing. NASA originally awarded Boeing the contract to fly astronauts in 2014, along with SpaceX.

The two companies were selected as part of the commercial crew program simultaneously, with Boeing receiving $4.8 billion for Starliner while SpaceX received $3.1 billion for Dragon.

But SpaceX has been flying astronauts with their Dragon since 2020. Following the successful flight of this Starliner crewed flight test, the Boeing Starliner will be certified to fly NASA crews in rotation with SpaceX. Starliner has previously flown two uncrewed missions, and while the first mission in 2019 failed to reach the ISS, the second mission in 2022 did, successfully docking and undocking with the station. However, that last flight did not come without issues, leading to Starliner waiting two years to see another flight.

“A mix of emotions” as Starliner launch day approaches

Loli has been with Boeing through every flight of Starliner. Over the past six years, he has seen it all, from Starliner’s primary structure taking shape all the way to next month's planned crewed mission. He worked in industrial engineering beginning with OFT-1 (Orbital Flight Test-1), but now his job for this flight also includes working on the launch pad team.

“We’re finally there,” Loli said as he recalled how far the team has come over the years. “It’s a mix of emotion. We were talking today about the first roll out (of Starliner) we saw, and it was like ‘wow, this is crazy. We’ve seen the first vehicle rolling out and now we see CFT (Crew Flight Test) with Butch and Suni there. Wow, finally, they’re going to launch into space’”.

“I get to strap in Suni and Butch prior to the launch,” Loli said, referring to his job as the crew who will be the last to physically be with the astronauts before they head into space. “I’ve been interacting with them for years.”

Loli said he has been planning his send off for awhile. “I asked them ‘hey, when you guys launched shuttle back in the day, what was your tradition with the closeout team?’. It was, you know, ‘high-five’. I said, ‘I’m not doing that’,” Loli said as he mused about his planned send-off. “I’m kissing them on the forehead.”

While the liftoff will be exciting, Loli said true satisfaction will come when they see Williams and Wilmore come back safely from this milestone flight.

Because they will be interacting with Williams and Wilmore before their journey, Loli and the rest of the closeout team also will quarantining with them. Astronauts flying to the space station must quarantine during the two weeks preceding flight to ensure they are healthy on launch day and beyond. The Starliner crew were slated to begin their quarantine Monday, April 22, in preparation for the May 6 launch.

Starliner landing day crew prepares for New Mexico retrieval

For Dobson, her work will involve not only liftoff but also the crew's return. During the Crew Flight Test, she will be working as the project lead for the camera system inside the spacecraft, which is referred to as ‘Mustang’. Dobson will also be serving on the landing and recovery team.

As time races on towards launch day, Dobson is working with crew on testing the camea system and packing the cargo bags.

“This is one leg of a very long journey,” Dobson said as she reflected on how far the Boeing team has come. Dobson told FLORIDA TODAY that she has known Williams since she was assigned to the Starliner Crew Flight Test in 2022.

And she sees a positive in the long wait to get to the crewed launch.

“That’s one of the things about Starliner having been delayed, this crew has a lot more training time on this vehicle and we all got to spend a lot more time with them,” said Dobson. “They are just as much a part of the family as anybody that works on the vehicle, or anyone that has anything to do with the vehicle.”

When the crew returns to Earth with a planned “soft landing” in the New Mexico desert, Dobson will be there to greet them. “We’re all going to be out in the desert waiting for them, looking for them with binoculars…staring up at the sky," she told FLORIDA TODAY.

Dobson briefly explained the team’s activities on day the crew comes home. Unlike SpaceX’s Dragon, which splashes down in the ocean, Starliner will land under three parachutes, deploying airbags to slow the landing.

“There’s a lot that happens when they first land down. We make sure the vehicle is safe to approach and be around. There’s voice communication between the crew and the ground teams making sure everybody’s OK and that everything is alright inside the vehicle," said Dobson. “Then we go and get them out.”

“It’s going to be really emotional to see them. It will be a final ‘oh my gosh. We made it. There it is: the mission completion,” she said. “I’m going to say ‘welcome home. How was your trip? Did you have fun?’”

Boeing teammates reflect on friendship with astronauts

“We’ve known Butch and Suni for over six years. I remember when we first started we were both like ‘wow, that’s an astronaut’,” said Loli.

“As time progressed, we’re like ‘Oh, it’s Suni and Butch. They’re probably going to make us do something, so let’s go hide.’,” he joked.

Loli smiled as he told FLORIDA TODAY how he considers both astronauts good friends.

Dobson nodded. “Sometimes the missions are long. Sometimes the missions are short. Sometimes it’s a sprint to get there. Sometimes it’s a marathon. Ours has been a marathon,” said Dobson. “We know Butch and Suni. It’s not just us sending this vehicle we’ve all been working on for so many years. We’re sending our friends into space.”

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com, or on X: @brookeofstars.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Boeing engineers prepare for Starliner crewed rocket launch