Boeing’s Starliner lands on Earth – without its astronauts
Eight-day stay in space extended to eight months
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will remain at the International Space Station until February 2025.
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft has completed its journey back to Earth - but the astronauts it was supposed to be carrying remain behind on the International Space Station (ISS).
The empty craft travelled in autonomous mode after undocking from the orbiting lab.
The capsule, which suffered technical problems after it launched with Nasa's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board, was deemed too risky to take the astronauts home.
They will instead return in a SpaceX Crew Dragon, but not until February - extending an eight-day stay on the ISS to eight months.
'Good spirits'
After Starliner's return, a Nasa spokesman said he was pleased at the successful landing but wished it could have gone as originally planned.
Nasa said earlier that Wilmore and Williams were in good spirits and in regular contact with their families.
Steve Stich, Nasa’s commercial crew programme manager, said both astronauts were passionate about their jobs.
“They understand the importance now of moving on and... getting the vehicle back safely.”
‘Demoralising’
The mission was intended to be a final test flight before US space agency NASA certifies Starliner for routine missions. However, the agency’s decision to keep astronauts off the capsule over safety concerns has thrown the craft’s certification path into uncertainty, despite the clean return Boeing executed.
Wilmore and Williams, whose mission was initially planned for just eight days, must return to Earth on a vehicle from Boeing’s rival SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, in February 2025.
“It must be demoralising in a way when you’ve gone expecting to be up there for eight days and suddenly your mission turns into eight months,” Tanya Harrison, a fellow at the University of British Columbia’s Outer Space Institute, told Al Jazeera.
“At the same time, this is a highly trained crew that knows that stuff like this can happen ... they’re trained, they’re ready,” she said.
During Starliner’s ascent to space in June, with Wilmore and Williams on board, five of the craft’s 28 manoeuvring thrusters failed. The same propulsion system also sprang several leaks of helium, which is used to pressurise the thrusters.
The malfunctions set off an intensive investigation by Boeing – with some help from NASA – that has cost the company US$125 million.
The empty craft travelled in autonomous mode after undocking from the orbiting lab.
The capsule, which suffered technical problems after it launched with Nasa's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board, was deemed too risky to take the astronauts home.
They will instead return in a SpaceX Crew Dragon, but not until February - extending an eight-day stay on the ISS to eight months.
'Good spirits'
After Starliner's return, a Nasa spokesman said he was pleased at the successful landing but wished it could have gone as originally planned.
Nasa said earlier that Wilmore and Williams were in good spirits and in regular contact with their families.
Steve Stich, Nasa’s commercial crew programme manager, said both astronauts were passionate about their jobs.
“They understand the importance now of moving on and... getting the vehicle back safely.”
‘Demoralising’
The mission was intended to be a final test flight before US space agency NASA certifies Starliner for routine missions. However, the agency’s decision to keep astronauts off the capsule over safety concerns has thrown the craft’s certification path into uncertainty, despite the clean return Boeing executed.
Wilmore and Williams, whose mission was initially planned for just eight days, must return to Earth on a vehicle from Boeing’s rival SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, in February 2025.
“It must be demoralising in a way when you’ve gone expecting to be up there for eight days and suddenly your mission turns into eight months,” Tanya Harrison, a fellow at the University of British Columbia’s Outer Space Institute, told Al Jazeera.
“At the same time, this is a highly trained crew that knows that stuff like this can happen ... they’re trained, they’re ready,” she said.
During Starliner’s ascent to space in June, with Wilmore and Williams on board, five of the craft’s 28 manoeuvring thrusters failed. The same propulsion system also sprang several leaks of helium, which is used to pressurise the thrusters.
The malfunctions set off an intensive investigation by Boeing – with some help from NASA – that has cost the company US$125 million.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article