The Boeing Starliner capsule returned to Earth, but without the two astronauts still stranded in space

2024-09-07 15:56:04

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The Starliner capsules of the American aeronautical giant Boeing back to Earth last Friday that’s the two astronauts who traveled there to the International Space Station (ISS) in June, due to NASA’s concerns about the device’s safety.

In context: NASA’s Starliner spacecraft: it will return to Earth without a crew on September 6

Around 04:01 GMT on Saturday, The empty ship landed safely at the White Sands spaceport in New Mexico, in the southern United States.with the help of a parachute and airbags after leaving the ISS about six hours, according to a live broadcast by the US space agency.

Boeing’s reputation, already questioned by many recent problems with its airplane of passengers, suffered a new blow in June, when thruster failures and helium leaks were discovered in the Starliner during the inaugural manned flight.

Despite the manufacturer’s efforts to convince NASA of the safety of its aircraft, The agency preferred that its two crew members, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, return to the planet aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, Boeing competitor.

The two astronauts, whose original mission was eight days, They will remain in space for more than eight months and will not return until next year.

Read here: Boeing has agreed to plead guilty before the US justice system for fatal crashes of its 737 MAX planes

Steve Stich, head of NASA’s commercial human spaceflight program, told the press this week that despite Boeing’s confidence in its projections, The space agency was “not comfortable” going forward with Starliner “due to uncertainty about the design.”

this flight successful return was deemed necessary by the manufacturer American, not only for its corporate image, but also for its future possibilities of obtaining new authorizations for manned space travel.

According to NASA, Shortly after detaching from the ISS this Friday, the Starliner performed a powerful “boot ignition.” move away quickly and avoid any risk of collision, an unnecessary maneuver if the crew were on board to take manual control.

During the return journey, Crews on the ground closely monitored every aspect of the capsule’s performance, especially his propellers.

The engineers reported that They heard a sonic boom as the Starliner crossed the red-hot night skyhaving endured temperatures of 1,650 ºC on re-entry into the atmosphere.