Empty Boeing Starliner Will Hopefully Return To Earth On Friday

Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Boeing Starliner’s hatch is closed, and the months-long debacle in low Earth orbit is nearly over. NASA confirmed that the troubled spacecraft will undock from the International Space Station at 6:04 p.m. EDT on Friday. From there, the Starliner will begin an autonomous re-entry with a scheduled landing at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico six hours later. While the space agency will do everything possible to minimize the possibility of disaster, it won’t be a zero-risk operation.

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The initial eight-day mission began on June 5 and turned into a three-month stay on the ISS as engineers worked to figure out issues that appeared during launch. During the Starliner’s rendezvous with the station, the craft had five maneuvering thrusters shut off by the flight computer. The problem stemmed from the Teflon coating over a thrust valve heating up, melting and being extruded from the jet.

Boeing and NASA engineers believe the issue won’t worsen during the return, citing the departure maneuvers as less stressful on the thrusters. The Starliner will shove off from the ISS with a dozen short and sharp burns. Anything more strenuous could cause the space agency to lose control of the spacecraft as the thrusters deactivate. The worst-case scenario envisioned by NASA sees the Starliner tumbling back into the ISS, destroying both craft and station.

The potential risks also mean that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the astronauts assigned to the Boeing Crew Flight Test, will stay aboard the ISS. The pair will return to Earth in March 2025 with the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. The Crew Dragon will launch into orbit with two empty seats and vehicle-compatible spacesuits for the stranded astronauts. Even if the Starliner’s parachutes safely deploy over the New Mexico desert, what occurred in orbit will likely impact NASA’s future missions involving the Boeing spacecraft.