It’s been a long wait, but Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has finally returned to Earth — but without two astronauts.
The capsule is scheduled to depart from the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, leaving test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board, and land at White Sands Spaceport in New Mexico early Saturday morning.
This is not the journey that Boeing or NASA had envisioned for the capsule’s first crewed test flight. The mission, launched June 5 with astronauts Williams and Wilmore, was to last eight days, with the astronauts spending about seven days on the International Space Station.
Instead, the astronauts will spend eight months on the ISS as part of a crew, returning in February aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon due to problems with Starliner. The spacecraft’s problems began before its launch, when ground crews detected two helium leaks after a launch attempt was canceled. But NASA and Boeing decided to launch despite not understanding what was causing the leaks.
NASA says astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams may not be able to return from space until 2025 after a series of problems were discovered with the Boeing Starliner capsule. Andrew Chang explains why their return home is becoming increasingly complicated.
After reaching orbit, they discovered more leaks. Then, during the docking procedure with the ISS, some engines suddenly shut down. After a short delay, the crew arrived safely.
In the weeks following Starliner’s arrival at the space station, NASA held several press conferences insisting that the Starliner crew was safe and would return aboard the capsule. However, on August 24, it was announced that the crew would remain on the ISS until February, returning aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Starliner will return to Earth without a crew.
And that’s another problem with this beleaguered spacecraft. Its initial unmanned test mission in 2019 ran into problems and couldn’t dock with the ISS. A second unmanned test mission also ran into engine problems, but docked successfully and was considered a successful mission.
“I have never been truly trapped or left to my own devices”
During a press conference on Wednesday, NASA announced that the Starliner hatch will close on Thursday at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET and it will separate from the ISS. on Friday at 6:04 pm ET. Landing at White Sands is scheduled for 12:04 am ET on Saturday morning.
If the weather is unfavourable or any problems arise, several reserve days are planned at four-day intervals.
“I personally am very much looking forward to the return of Starliner,” Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “We learned a lot from this test flight, and I’m sure we’ll learn even more during the undocking and deorbit phases.”
For the past two months, NASA has assured that astronauts are not stranded or stranded in space, saying the Starliner is safe enough to be used in emergencies and that it has the capability to return. Although the Starliner returned without a crew, the message remains the same.
“In my opinion, they were never truly trapped or stranded. They always had a way to get out of the space station,” Stich said. “My opinion is that when someone is trapped, there’s a place they can’t get out of. They had the Starliner as a vehicle to fly away in for a period of time. Now Crew 8 is their escape vehicle, and when Crew 9 gets there, that’s their vehicle.”
However, he later admitted that Boeing’s spacesuits would return home on the Starliner because they were not compatible with SpaceX’s spacesuits and only one There was a SpaceX spacesuit available that only fit Williams. The suit will be sent for Wilmore on the next SpaceX resupply mission.
Meanwhile, astronauts are hard at work as members of the ISS Expedition 71/72 crew, performing more than 40 experiments and putting in more than 100 hours of work, according to Dana Weigel, ISS manager at NASA.
“In terms of flight operations, we’re in constant conversation with Butch, Suni and the entire crew, and their focus on the mission is admirable,” Anthony Vareha, ISS flight director, said during a news conference. “They’re not just passengers on this vehicle; they’re part of the team. They asked good questions and provided great context as we tried to figure out the Starliner thing.”
Although the astronauts will not return, NASA and Boeing are counting on a successful landing to investigate issues that occurred during the test flight.
