Unfolding story: Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft returns safely to Earth without crew

 

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft landed on Earth without astronauts on Saturday, after a three-month journey to the International Space Station (ISS).

“Touchdown #Starliner,” Boeing wrote on social media platform X.

“Touchdown, #Starliner! The uncrewed spacecraft touched down at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 12:01 p.m. ET (9:31 a.m. IST) on Saturday, Sept. 7,” NASA added.

The Starliner landed uncrewed following NASA’s decision on August 24 to not allow Indian astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore to return to the faulty spacecraft because it “lacked safety and performance requirements for human spaceflight.”

The uncrewed return “allows NASA and Boeing to continue collecting data on Starliner’s performance, but without accepting more than necessary risks to its crew,” the U.S. space agency said.

Williams and Willmore are now expected to return to Earth in February 2025 on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

The Starliner flew to the ISS with Williams and Willmore for a week-long mission. But as the spacecraft approached the orbiting laboratory, it suffered a series of technical problems, including the failure of several thrusters and helium leaks in the propulsion system.

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While Boeing proclaimed the Starliner was safe, NASA officials disagreed.

At last week’s crucial review meeting, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson noted that the agency’s “decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and return Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner home is a reflection of our commitment to safety.”

Meanwhile, NASA announced that both Williams and Willmore “are safe aboard the space station.”

Along with the Expedition 71 crew, the duo is supporting station research, Starliner system maintenance and testing, and data analysis. They recently completed research on fiber optic cables and growing plants aboard the ISS, NASA said.

The Expedition 71 crew consisted of NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Tracy C. Dyson, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Alexander Grebenkin. (Agency)

The article Developing Story: Boeing’s Starliner Spacecraft Returns Safely to Earth Without Crew first appeared on TheConclaveNg.