September 7, 2024
5 min read
Starliner Spacecraft Safely Returns to Earth, sans Astronauts
Starliner’s first crewed test flight has concluded with a successful touchdown—and two astronauts still in orbit awaiting a different ride home
After three agonizing months in space, an orbital mission that was originally intended to span scarcely more than a week has concluded with a parachute-slowed, airbag-cushioned autonomous landing shortly after midnight EDT at NASA’s White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
Starliner—the Boeing-built spacecraft that began a troubled test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in June—is at last back on Earth. The same can’t be said for its crew, however: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams remain onboard the ISS. Last month officials at the space agency, citing safety concerns, opted to instead fly them home in February 2025 via a tried-and-true Dragon spacecraft built and operated by Boeing’s aerospace competitor SpaceX. Accommodating that change required that two other NASA astronauts, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, be booted from SpaceX’s next scheduled Dragon flight to the ISS: the Crew 9 mission, which is slated to launch later this month. This leaves two open seats for Wilmore and Williams when that Dragon returns to Earth next February.
“It was a great day to return Starliner, and it was great to have a successful undock, deorbit and landing of the vehicle,” said Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, during a postlanding press conference in which he summarized the spacecraft’s “darn near-flawless” performance. “I am thrilled for our Boeing team, and all of our colleagues that worked this mission…
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