of reuters Report According to , if everything goes according to plan, the Starliner capsule will leave the ISS dock on the evening of September 6, US time, and will attempt a landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico after a journey of about 6 hours.
The Starliner spacecraft was launched on June 5. This was Boeing’s first manned mission. Two astronauts – Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore – boarded the spacecraft and reached the ISS. The Starliner capsule successfully docked with the ISS the day after launch. After that the problems started.
Helium leaked into the spacecraft and then five of its control system thrusters failed. Starline’s mission was proposed to last only 10 days, but a spacecraft malfunction brought the mission to a point of no return. The biggest question was what would happen to the two astronauts.
Just a few days ago, NASA and Boeing decided that Sunita and Butch would not be brought back to Earth by Starliner. This means that if the Starliner returns to Earth on September 6, there will be no crew aboard.
NASA has told that Sunita and Butch will now return to Earth with the Crew-9 mission. That mission is scheduled to launch in September and may return to Earth in February or March next year. This means that Sunita and Butch will return to Earth only by February or March 2025.
The return of Starliner like this is also a blow for Boeing. The company has been trying to give wings to its ambitions in the space sector for a long time. If the Starliner mission had been successful, then in the coming days, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX would have got a private competitor in this field. It seems that now Boeing will have to make many more efforts.