The mission was supposed to last just ten days, but after several mishaps, the capsule was forced to return not only later than planned, but completely unmanned.
Despite the crew being stranded in space until 2025, NASA is celebrating the successful return of the troubled Starliner spacecraft after months of turmoil over its safety, which departed the International Space Station on Friday (US time) without its crew and headed back to Earth.
NASA astronauts Butch Williams and Suni Wilmore should have flown Starliner back to Earth in June, a week after launching in, but thruster failures and helium leaks caused the astronauts issues as they approached the ISS.
NASA ultimately decided it was too risky to return the duo on Starliner, so the fully automated capsule returned home without them.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX will bring the pair back in February, taking their original eight-day mission to a lengthy one of more than eight months.
NASA+ is live now as the uncrewed @BoeingSpace #Starliner spacecraft prepares to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and land in New Mexico at 12am ET on Saturday. https://t.co/xzxS0tYDnl
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) September 7, 2024