Boeing Co.'s (NYSE:BA) troubled space capsule, Starliner, has returned to Earth without any crew after a test flight fraught with technical issues and delays.
What Happened: The Starliner departed the International Space Station at 6:04 p.m. Friday New York time and landed in White Sands, New Mexico, after a six-hour flight.
The mission has garnered global attention due to numerous technical problems that led NASA to extend the stays of astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams.
Originally scheduled to return in the Starliner, Williams and Wilmore will now remain on the ISS until early 2025, when a SpaceX craft will bring them back. NASA deemed it too risky for astronauts to return in the Boeing vehicle due to ongoing thruster issues.
NASA officials monitored the thrusters' performance during the return to evaluate their capability.
Despite the concerns, NASA's Steve Stich expressed confidence in the vehicle during a press conference. However, the root cause of the issues remains unclear, and NASA's future plans for Starliner are still undecided.
Why It Matters: The return of Boeing's Starliner without crew underscores a series of setbacks for the aerospace giant. On Sept. 4, the crew aboard the ISS prepared the Starliner for its uncrewed journey back to Earth.
Earlier, on Sept. 2, astronaut Wilmore reported hearing strange sonar-like sounds from a speaker inside the Starliner, baffling NASA officials in Houston.
Due to these ongoing issues, NASA had to revamp its SpaceX Crew-9 lineup on Aug. 30 to make room for the astronauts stranded at the ISS. Only two astronauts will launch on NASA's upcoming SpaceX Crew-9 mission instead of four.
Adding to the tension, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took another dig at Boeing, highlighting the company's failure to return astronauts on the Starliner.
- Boeing's Former CEO Dennis Muilenburg Said In 2017 His Company Will Beat Elon Musk To Mars. 7 Years Later, It Has Been Forced To Abandon NASA Astronauts At ISS, Who Will Now Be Rescued By SpaceX
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: NASA