Boeing's troubled Starliner spacecraft has completed its journey from The International Space Station, weeks later than planned and without its key payload - the crew!
The empty spacecraft, which developed many faults on and just after liftoff and during the flight to the ISS, completed the journey in autonomous mode, unmanned because it was considered too dangerous for the two crewmembers to use.
NASA said the Starliner craft's return took place over six hours. After it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, controlled parachutes were deployed to slow its descent at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico on Saturday. Some believe NASA brought the stricken craft back earlier than its contingency plans after the craft was reported to be making strange noises.
The two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams that originally went up on Starliner for what was planned to be an 8-day star on the ISS, remained in space, and after not due to come back now till February next year. NASA say they are in good spirits and in regular contact with their families. But, such a long deployment of 8 months rather than 8 days is bound to have some psychological impact on them and their loved ones.
Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew programme manager, said: "We are excited to have Starliner home safely. This was an important test flight for NASA in setting us up for future missions on the Starliner system, There was a lot of valuable learning that will enable our long-term success. I want to commend the entire team for their hard work and dedication over the past three months."
Ken Bowersox, Associate Administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington commented: “I am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starliner’s safe return. Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible. NASA looks forward to our continued work with the Boeing team to proceed toward certification of Starliner for crew rotation missions to the space station."
