...the who's who,
and the what's what 
of the space industry

Space Careers

news Space News

Search News Archive

Title

Article text

Keyword

  • Home
  • News
  • Boeing's beleaguered space capsule is heading back to Earth without two NASA astronauts

Boeing's beleaguered space capsule is heading back to Earth without two NASA astronauts

Written by  Friday, 06 September 2024 15:20
Write a comment
Boeing's beleaguered space capsule is heading back to Earth without two NASA astronauts
This photo provided by NASA shows Boeing's Starliner spacecraft which launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station docked to the Harmony module's forward port on July 3, 2024, seen from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to the adjacent port. Credit: NASA via AP

After months of turmoil over its safety, Boeing's new astronaut capsule is set to depart the International Space Station on Friday without its crew.

NASA's two will stay behind at the space station—their home until next year—as the Starliner capsule prepares to undock and aims for a touchdown six hours later in the New Mexico desert.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams should have flown Starliner back to Earth in June, a week after launching in it. But thruster failures and helium leaks marred their ride to the space station.

NASA ultimately decided it was too risky to return Wilmore and Williams on Starliner. So the capsule contains their empty seats and blue spacesuits along with some old station equipment. SpaceX will bring the duo back in late February, stretching their original eight-day mission to more than eight months.

  • Boeing's beleaguered space capsule is heading back to Earth without two NASA astronauts
    NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together for a photo enroute to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for their liftoff on the Boeing Starliner capsule to the international space station. Credit: AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File
  • Boeing's beleaguered space capsule is heading back to Earth without two NASA astronauts
    In this photo provided by NASA, astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams inspect safety hardware aboard the International Space Station on Aug. 9, 2024. Credit: NASA via AP

Boeing's first astronaut flight caps a journey filled with delays and setbacks. After the space shuttles retired more than a decade ago, NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX for orbital taxi service. Boeing ran into so many problems on its first test flight with no one aboard in 2019 that it had to repeat it. The 2022 do-over uncovered even more flaws and the repair bill topped $1 billion.

SpaceX's ferry flight later this month will be its 10th for NASA since 2020. The Dragon capsule will launch on the half-year expedition with only two astronauts since two seats are reserved for Wilmore and Williams for the return leg.

© 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Citation: Boeing's beleaguered space capsule is heading back to Earth without two NASA astronauts (2024, September 6) retrieved 8 September 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2024-09-boeing-beleaguered-space-capsule-earth.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Read more from original source...

You must login to post a comment.
Loading comment... The comment will be refreshed after 00:00.

Be the first to comment.

Interested in Space?

Hit the buttons below to follow us...