WASHINGTON, SEPT 8 – The unmanned Boeing Starliner successfully landed in New Mexico late last Friday after taking off six hours earlier from the International Space Station (ISS), reported United Press International (UPI).
The capsule left behind two astronauts — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — who now have to stay at the station until February and return with the SpaceX capsule. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decided problems with the Starliner’s thrusters and a helium leak made it too risky to return home with the crew.
Starliner landed at White Sands Space Harbor at 10:01 p.m. Ground forces greeted the capsule with plans to bring it back to Florida, which launched on June 6.
The autonomous retreat from the ISS took place as scheduled at 4:04 pm after the vehicle was released from the station’s forward module. It slowly moved away as it performed a series of 12 ‘burn bursts’ over a period of five minutes, pushing it further away from the station as it flew over central China.
Starliner orients itself as it enters Earth’s atmosphere at over 17,000 miles per hour. The atmospheric temperature reaches over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Three parachutes and thrusters slowed the vehicle and airbags were deployed.
Boeing hopes to obtain certification for future flights for NASA. NASA wants to rely on companies other than SpaceX and Russia’s Soyuz for the Space Station mission.
Starliner was the first US-made capsule to land on land instead of reaching the ocean.
“Keep in mind that this is a test mission,” said Joel Montalbano, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for space operations, in a press conference after the Starliner landed.
Its flight path crosses northern Mexico and southwestern New Mexico, making it visible in the night sky in that area depending on cloud conditions.
On June 5, the Boeing spacecraft lifted off on its first crewed flight, carrying NASA’s Wilmore and Williams to the space station. However, while approaching the orbiting laboratory, NASA and Boeing identified a helium leak and damage to the reaction control thrusters.
Five of the Starliner’s 28 ‘reaction control system’ thrusters suddenly stopped working while en route to the space station. Four of the thrusters were recovered and at least one remained inoperative throughout the mission.
Last month, NASA announced that because of safety concerns for Wilmore and Williams, they will remain on the ISS until February while the Starliner will return to Earth autonomously without a crew.
Wilmore and Williams are currently scheduled to return home aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. – Named
