Boeing Starliner returns to Earth as NASA reports latest problems

After years of delays, Starliner launched in June on a test mission that was scheduled to last about every week – a final test before the space shuttle may very well be certified to transfer crew to and from the orbital laboratory.

But unexpected engine malfunctions and helium leaks en path to the ISS derailed those plans, and NASA ultimately decided it might be safer to bring crew members Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back on a competing SpaceX Crew Dragon – although they may should wait until February 2025.

The gummy bear-shaped Boeing capsule made a delicate landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 04:01 GMT on Saturday, its descent slowed by parachutes and cushioned by airbags after leaving the ISS about six hours earlier.

As the probe sped through the night sky, red-hot, ground crews reported hearing sonic booms. As it re-entered the atmosphere, the probe was exposed to temperatures of 1,650 degrees Celsius.

During a press conference after the flight, NASA praised Boeing highly, although the absence of company representatives was conspicuous.

“It was a direct hit,” said Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s business crew program. “The entry in particular went almost flawlessly.”

However, he acknowledged that certain latest problems had come to light, including the failure of a brand new engine and the temporary failure of the guidance system.

He added that it was too early to discuss whether the Starliner’s next flight, scheduled for August next yr, can be manned, stressing as an alternative that NASA needed time to research the info it had collected and assess what changes were needed each to the spacecraft’s design and the best way it might be flown.

Before the return flight, Boeing conducted extensive ground tests to repair the technical problems encountered in the course of the Starliner’s ascent, after which promised – each publicly and behind closed doors – that it could bring the astronauts home safely. In the tip, NASA disagreed.

When asked if he stood by the choice, NASA’s Stich said: “It’s always difficult to look back. We made the decision to go unmanned based on what we knew at the time, based on what we knew about the engines and based on the models that were available to us.”

History of setbacks

Even and not using a crew on board, there was lots at stake for Boeing, the 100-year-old aerospace giant.

With the corporate’s repute already tarnished by safety concerns surrounding its business aircraft, its long-term prospects for manned space missions were at stake.

Shortly after undocking, the Starliner performed a strong breakout burn to quickly detach itself from the station and avoid any risk of collision – a maneuver that may have been unnecessary if the crew had been on board to take manual control if essential.

The mission teams then conducted thorough engine checks required for the critical deorbit burn that placed the capsule on its reentry path roughly 40 minutes before touchdown.

Although the Starliner was widely expected to make the landing, because it did in two previous unmanned tests, Boeing’s program stays behind schedule.

In 2014, NASA awarded each Boeing and SpaceX multibillion-dollar contracts to develop spacecraft to move astronauts to the ISS and back after the U.S. space agency became reliant on Russian rockets following the tip of the Space Shuttle program.

Although Elon Musk’s SpaceX was initially considered an outsider, it overtook Boeing and has successfully transported dozens of astronauts since 2020.

The Starliner program, meanwhile, has faced quite a few setbacks – from a software bug that prevented the capsule from rendezvous with the ISS during its first unmanned test flight in 2019, to the invention of flammable tape within the cabin after its second test in 2022, to the present problems.

Since the ISS is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2030, the longer it takes for the Starliner to turn out to be fully operational, the less time it would should prove its suitability.