Boeing confirmed that Starliner, its Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission to the International Space Station (ISS), was safely recovered only – to its eternal embarrassment – minus the crew.
Starliner undocked from the ISS at 2204 on 6 September. Using an airbag and parachute system, it landed six hours later in New Mexico at 0401 GMT on 7 September. Meanwhile, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stayed in space. The pair’s mission aboard the ISS was intended to last just one week but has been extended by several months. Under the latest plans, Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth onboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in February next year.
NASA decided to leave the crew on the station due to worries about Starliner’s service module thrusters overheating and automatically shutting off. If the thruster system failed completely, the astronauts risked being marooned on a dying space capsule with oxygen running out before a natural orbital decay could happen. There were also concerns about helium leaks that occurred during the spacecraft’s approach to the ISS on 6 June.
We filmed the @Boeing Starliner undocking before its final journey to Earth from our 4K camera payload on the International Space Station. This video was captured during a private test of our livestream – we look forward to sharing future missions with the public once we start… pic.twitter.com/fNfWw0aiOa
— sen (@sen) September 7, 2024
Were NASA’s fears warranted?
Although no thrusters on the service module shut off this time (Boeing modified the software) two did overheat. On the crew capsule it was discovered, before re-entry, that one out of 12 thrusters was inoperative. A full investigation and remedial measures are planned before Starliner’s next flight expected in August next year.
Postscript: The comings and goings on the ISS did not just include US spacecraft activity. Soyuz MS-26 docked with the ISS Rassvet module at about 1932 GMT on 11 September after its launch on the same day.
