A week in space turned into three months: The crisis-ridden spaceship “Starliner” is finally set to return to Earth on the night of Friday to Saturday – but without the two astronauts it brought to the International Space Station ISS in June. According to the US space agency NASA, the capsule will detach from the space station 400 kilometers above the Earth shortly after midnight CEST. After six hours, it is set to arrive in the desert of the US state of New Mexico.
Eight extra months on the ISS
The unusual maneuver is preceded by an odyssey in space for the “Starliner” astronauts Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore. After the first manned launch of the spacecraft from the US company Boeing in early June, they were actually only supposed to spend a week on board the ISS after many delays. Now it will most likely be more than eight months.
NASA boss Bill Nelson justified the decision with safety concerns about sending the “Starliner” back to Earth with a crew. Technical problems arose after the launch – including with the engines and helium leaks. Since then, the two astronauts have been stuck on the space station.
There is great anticipation as to whether the Starliner will return to Earth without any problems. Experts from Boeing and NASA disagreed about how high the risk to the health of the astronauts on board would have been. Enormous forces act on space capsules when they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
SpaceX as a savior in times of need
Williams and Wilmore are now to be brought back to Earth with an alternative plan: NASA has made two of the four seats available for them on a mission to the ISS on the “Dragon” spacecraft of the private space company SpaceX, which is scheduled to begin at the end of September. The return flight is not planned until February, however.
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