- Boeing’s Starliner capsule returned to Earth
- NASA deemed it unsafe for crew return
- Wilmore and Williams will remain on ISS
After a series of delays and failures, Boeing believed that their Starliner capsule could safely return Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), but NASA disagreed.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which had been plagued with issues, has returned to Earth, leaving two men on the International Space Station.
Six hours after taking off, the spaceship, which was on autopilot, parachuted onto the New Mexico desert.
Cameras captured the capsule as a white streak approaching the touchdown at 11.01 pm local time (5.01 am on Saturday UK time), prompting cheers from Boeing’s Mission Control.
NASA deemed it too unsafe for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to the spacecraft.
It means they’ll be aboard the ISS until February, more than eight months after taking off on what was supposed to be a brief eight-day mission.
Boeing’s long-delayed spacecraft was sent into orbit in June, but problems were discovered before it reached the space station, including several thruster failures and propulsion-system helium leaks.
Boeing conducted extensive thruster experiments in orbit and on Earth and stated that the vessel could safely transport the astronauts back.
NASA disagreed, wanting to keep them on the station.
There were several glitches during Starliner’s descent, including more thruster troubles, but the spacecraft made a “bull’s-eye landing,” according to NASA’s commercial crew program manager, Steve Stich.
Boeing has had various issues since winning a deal with NASA for more than $4 billion (£3 billion) a decade ago to transport astronauts to and from orbit.
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Its initial test flight without anyone aboard in 2019 encountered so many issues that it had to be repeated in 2022 when even more defects surfaced and the cost of fixes surpassed $1 billion (£0.76 billion).
In comparison, SpaceX’s crew ferry flight later this month will be the company’s tenth for NASA since 2020.
Its Dragon capsule will take off with only two astronauts rather than four, as two seats are reserved for Wilmore and Williams on the return journey.
The starliner will be returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for further investigation into what went wrong.
NASA officials underscored that the space agency is still committed to having two competitive US companies transport astronauts.
The idea is for SpaceX and Boeing to alternate launching people – one per year – until the space station is abandoned in 2030, just before its destructive reentry.
That leaves little time for Boeing to catch up, but the corporation plans to proceed with Starliner, according to NASA.
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