Video Captures Boeing Starliner Landing Back On Earth
The Boeing Company has already been in the news quite a bit lately for their crafts not operating as hoped, and now recently they have another blow as their Starliner spacecraft was forced to return to Earth early due to safety concerns. The Starliner was recently reported to be having numerous issues, including its speaker emitting an unexplained sonar-like sound that left astronauts mystified. Fearing for the safety of the crew, Boeing had the Starliner return to Earth unpiloted this week, as was captured on video.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had launched to the International Space Station aboard the Starliner back in June, but as discrepancies in the vessel began to crop up, it was feared malfunctions could endanger the safe return of the astronauts.
“If we’d have had a crew on board the spacecraft, we would have followed the same back away sequence from the space station, the same deorbit burn and executed the same entry. And so it would have been a safe, successful landing with the crew on board.”
-Steve Stich, NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager
It was determined that Wilmore and Williams would be reassigned while in space and would make their return to Earth at a later date. Meanwhile, Boeing’s Starliner returned on its own.
The Boeing Starliner officially made its successful landing back on Earth on September 7 at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. The video of the craft’s landing shows its descent to Earth via a variety of parachutes timed to release at different intervals to ensure a smooth landing. The entire process was observed over livestream by NASA and the footage and commentary was shared with the public.
The mission for Williams and Wilmore was initially only meant to last 10 days, but instead it wound up extending over three months with the Starliner.
Given Starliner’s successful landing, NASA now believes it would have been perfectly safe for Wilmore and Williams to return aboard the vessel. However, Boeing adopted the position that it was better to be safe than sorry and elected not to take any chances given the numerous unexplained discrepancies that were occurring with the Starliner. It does delay the return of both astronauts until next year, however they will still have their presence in space put to use to assist in other projects.
Steve Stich, the manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, commented on the situation with the Boeing Starliner, saying, “If we’d have had a crew on board the spacecraft, we would have followed the same back away sequence from the space station, the same deorbit burn and executed the same entry. And so it would have been a safe, successful landing with the crew on board.”
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will not be able to return to Earth until 2025.
However, given the numerous hiccups that had already occurred with the mission, Boeing clearly did not wish to take any more chances with the Starliner. The mission for Williams and Wilmore was initially only meant to last 10 days, but instead it wound up extending over three months with the Starliner.
Now it continues further, but the Starliner will no longer be a part of it. The astronauts’ next window to return is scheduled for February, making for quite the change of plans.
Boeing is pleased that the Starliner made it back with no difficulties, but nonetheless wants to now study it to determine what was the cause of the malfunctions that raised concern in the first place. Given the series of difficulties Boeing has been in the news for lately, they certainly do not wish for these types of malfunctions to become a pattern.
