Boeing Starliner returns to Earth without astronauts

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth, but without the astronauts it was supposed to bring home from the International Space Station (ISS), according to BBC.

The uncrewed capsule, which encountered technical issues during its mission, safely landed in White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico on Saturday at 11:01 p.m. local time (5:01 a.m. GMT) after a six-hour flight.

The astronauts, NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will remain on the ISS and return aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in February, extending their stay to eight months.

NASA had previously planned for Starliner to carry the astronauts back home. However, a series of problems during the June 5 launch, including helium leaks and thruster malfunctions, made the spacecraft unsafe for the crew’s return.

"From a human perspective, all of us feel happy about the successful landing, but then there's a piece of us - all of us - that wish it would have been the way we had planned it,” said Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, during a briefing. "We had planned to have the mission land with Butch and Suni on board."

NASA and Boeing engineers spent months investigating the technical issues, but by late August, the US space agency decided it was too risky to use Starliner for the astronauts' return. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will now take over that task in February, after a delay to ensure proper scheduling and launch preparations.

There was “clearly work to do,” Stich added, noting that "a little time" is needed to determine what will come next.

Earlier, Stich acknowledged tensions between NASA and Boeing over the decision to leave the astronauts on the ISS, with Boeing maintaining that its spacecraft could have safely returned them.

In a statement, Boeing recognized the efforts of its Starliner team in ensuring a safe landing and promised to review data and plan the next steps for the program.

Starliner, already facing financial difficulties and reputational damage following two fatal accidents five years ago, is under pressure to prove Starliner’s reliability in future missions.

Dana Weigel, manager of the International Space Station, said that the astronauts Wilmore and Williams are adapting well to the extended mission.

The pair, who have previously completed two long-duration space stays, are participating in exercise programs to stay healthy, Weigel added.