2024-09-07 14:05:31
The “Starliner” capsule undocked from the ISS and headed towards Earth without a crew.
The crisis-ridden spacecraft “Starliner” returned to Earth early in the morning European time. The capsule from the US manufacturer Boeing docked shortly after midnight (CEST) without a crew on board from the International Space Station (ISS) 400 kilometers above the Earth, as live images from the US space agency NASA showed. After six hours, the “Starliner” was supposed to touch down in the desert of the US federal state of New Mexico. The capsule landed as planned in the White Sands Missile Range in the state of New Mexico.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore should have flown back to Earth with the spaceship a long time ago. But an odyssey in space prevented this. The two are still on the ISS after the first manned launch of the “Starliner” in early June, although they were only supposed to spend a week on board.
NASA boss Bill Nelson justified the decision with safety concerns about sending the “Starliner” back to Earth with a crew. After the launch, technical problems – including with the engines – and helium leaks occurred. Since then, the two astronauts have been stuck on the space station and will now only be brought home next year under an alternative plan.
The experts from Boeing and NASA disagreed about how high the risk to the health of the astronauts on board would have been. Enormous forces act on space capsules when they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore are to be brought back to Earth on another spacecraft: NASA has already made two of the four seats available for the two of them on a mission to the ISS on the “Dragon” of the private space company SpaceX, which is scheduled to begin at the end of September. The return flight is not planned until February, however. This means that Williams and Wilmore will probably be in space for a total of more than eight months.