"Touchdown, Starliner!…Welcome home, Calypso".
The uncrewed Boeing's spacecraft landed at New Mexico's White Sands Space Harbor at 12:01 am ET (9:30 IST) on Saturday, September 7. “It was good landing, pretty awesome,” an official was heard saying soon after the “great” touchdown.
A NASA official from Mission Control Houston said the Starliner has “returned safely". She said, “Starliner has once again proven herself a safe ride, to and from space.” Boeing also said, "Starliner landed safely...at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico."
Starliner began its journey back to Earth at 6:04 pm EDT on Friday. That's 3:30 am on Saturday, as per the Indian Standard Time (IST). It successfully undocked from the ISS and moved towards Earth after being given a go-ahead from the teams. It completed its journey from the ISS to New Mexico in approximately six hours.
“I want to recognize the work the Starliner teams did to ensure a successful and safe undocking, deorbit, re-entry and landing,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. “We will review the data and determine the next steps for the program," he added.
As the Starliner's landing coverage was on, NASA said that around 30,000 feet after atmospheric re-entry, the forward heat shield separated from the Starliner spacecraft and the drogue parachutes inflated to help slow down the uncrewed capsule.
“About 45 seconds later, at around 8,000 feet, the drogue parachutes separated to make way for three larger main parachutes to deploy, slow down Starliner to 4 miles per hour, and allow an airbag-assisted landing,” the US space agency added.
Soon, the base heat shield jettisoned to expose six airbags which inflated to assist in a soft landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
Starliner landed in Mexico around 12 am EDT, or 9:30 am IST, Saturday.
The Boeing spacecraft had launched with NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore on board on June 5. They reached the International Space Station on June 6.
During their flight in space, NASA detected technical issues with the Starliner, prompting a delay in its return to Earth. The spacecraft was scheduled to return by mid-June.
Teams in space and on ground worked around the clock to conduct experiments and find the root cause of the problem with the Starliner.
To ensure safety of the two astronauts, NASA decided to bring back Starliner without its crew on September 6. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will now return on SpaceX Dragon craft in February 2025.
The Starliner crew module will be transported back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where Boeing teams will analyse mission data.
