Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has accomplished its Crew Flight Check (CFT) mission, touchdown safely at White Sands Missile Vary, New Mexico, on September 7, 2024. After greater than three months in house, the uncrewed capsule returned with a profitable parachute-assisted touchdown at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT). This marked the tip of a mission initially deliberate for simply ten days, however delays arose on account of thruster points skilled because the capsule neared the Worldwide House Station (ISS). Though no astronauts have been on board, NASA confirmed that they’d have been unhurt if that they had been.
Protected Touchdown Regardless of Challenges
NASA’s Steve Stich, supervisor of the Industrial Crew Program, defined throughout a press convention that Starliner’s descent adopted the deliberate process. The spacecraft carried out its deorbit burn, re-entry, and touchdown as designed. In accordance with Stich, even with crew aboard, the touchdown would have been equally protected, regardless of the surprising issues throughout the mission. Boeing and NASA have spent the previous three months at White Sands performing assessments to know the thruster malfunction, which delayed Starliner’s return.
Astronaut Reassignment and Starliner’s Future
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, initially a part of the mission, needed to be reassigned. They have been initially scheduled to return after ten days however will now keep on the ISS for ten months. Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in February 2025, after Crew-9’s rotation.
The way forward for Starliner’s operations stays unsure, with plans for its crew transport missions to the ISS now delayed till no less than August 2025. Boeing’s Industrial Crew Program vice chairman, Mark Nappi, confirmed that the info from this mission will likely be reviewed to resolve the subsequent steps for the spacecraft.
