Without astronauts, Boeing's Starliner returns to Earth

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft landed uncrewed in a New Mexico desert late on Friday (September 6), capping a three-month test mission hobbled by technical issues that forced the astronauts it had flown to the International Space Station to remain there until next year.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who became the first crew to fly Starliner in June, remained on the ISS as Starliner autonomously undocked at 6:04 p.m. ET (2204 GMT) on Friday, beginning a six-hour trek to Earth using maneuvering thrusters that NASA last month deemed too risky for a crew.

Starliner returned to Earth seemingly without a hitch, a NASA live stream showed, nailing the critical final phase of its mission.

The spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere at around 11 p.m. ET at orbital speeds of roughly 17,000 miles (27,400 km) per hour. About 45 minutes later, it deployed a series of parachutes to slow its descent and inflated a set of airbags moments before touching down at the White Sands Space Harbor, an arid desert in New Mexico.

Though the mission was intended to be a final test flight before NASA certifies Starliner for routine missions, the agency's decision last month to keep astronauts off the capsule over safety concerns threw the spacecraft's certification path into uncertainty, despite the clean return Boeing executed.

(Production: Eva Weininger)

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[bretthl]

If it's a Boeing I ain't going.😮

[vivenciojr.amores]

Maganda ang ipinakita sa NASA at Boeing kung ano ang dapat gawin kung may aberiya sa himpapawid. Ipinakita nila kung ano ang gagawing na safety ang pag- landing sa spacecraft.

[MichaelBrown-nyet]

The cost, time, and failure of this program is amateur hour compared to space x. Absolutely no comparison.

[dxydfyk]

Ya could have asked your Neighbor Boeing!.. 🤦‍♂️
Bring our 2 Stranded Astronauts back to earth in Flying Saucer🛸🛸

[yoskarokuto]

starliner very clear visible thruster fire , why apollo 11-17 use same (HYPERGOLIC) thruster but never see VISIBLE FIRE ?

[romeoj]

Any particular reason why missions like this with human lives on the line don’t have a backup mission planned that can quickly follow? What happens when the Feb launch has issues? Will them just send up more space toilet paper and say we’ll try again in June? We seemed better prepared for this in the 60s!!

[BanterMaestro-yz]

In February the headline should read _Without Boeing, the Astronauts Return to Earth._

[tomnguyen]

I still believed in Boeing. They have short coming but, I think they can weather through it!

[richardkrijgsman]

Eerlijk gezegd kan ik me voorstellen dat complot denkers met deze video aan de haal gaan.
Stel.. je gaat naar de nieuwe Star Wars film en ze vertonen dan deze beelden...zou je dan zeggen "Wow wat een fantastische mooie special effects, net levensecht allemaal"?

[thediamondprincechristian]

it doesnt make any sense to me, this is stupid.

[bradbrown]

So you could have brought those two people back. Can you spell incompetence. I hope they sue you all big time.

[ConceptualRift]

They have been chosen to document the mushroom clouds

[utube]

NASA The space agency which spends millions of dollars...doesn't have color cameras ? Can it afford only B/W ?

[trvman]

and now you still have 2 people stuck u8p in space for months yet. If Boeing was so sure this was safe, they would have put them in the capsule.

[johnchapman]

More grainy rubbish film by £100, 000 cameras .
Probably never happened.

[thespaceram]

There is no life in space. It has been proven time and time again. Use that money for more serious problems here on earth. Like solving homelessness. By giving homeless people that live in the streets housing. Among other serious issues that need solving here.