Modern Flying Space

NASA Reveals Mission Timeline for Crewless Starliner Return

The space agency outlined its spacecraft salvage operation as astronauts are forced to stay at ISS another six months.

Caleb Revill

Friday, September 06, 2024 at 10:20 AM ET

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Edited By: tccjeremy

Boeing’s Starliner capsule has been docked to the International Space Station since June 6. [Courtesy: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

The uncrewed Boeing Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to return autonomously to Earth on Friday following an extended mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The two NASA astronauts who flew to the ISS on the Starliner in June will remain on the station until February, returning via a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft due to the Starliner's earlier thruster malfunctions.
The Starliner, designed for land touchdowns, will target one of several U.S. sites, with its return involving a precise deorbit burn, atmospheric reentry, parachute deployment, and a multi-team recovery process.

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NASA has announced its mission timeline for the uncrewed Boeing Starliner spacecraft to depart from the International Space Station and return autonomously to Earth on Friday.

This comes after a weeklong mission to the ISS extended into an eight-month nightmare for two astronauts after the Starliner experienced thruster malfunctions during the trip to space. Since their blastoff on June 5, NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams have been staying on the ISS alongside the Expedition 71 crew.

Caleb Revill

Caleb Revill is a journalist, writer and lifelong learner working as a Junior Writer for Firecrown. When he isn't tackling breaking news, Caleb is on the lookout for fascinating feature stories.