Boeing Starliner Returns Without Astronauts (image@NASA)
The Boeing’s troubled Starliner returned to Earth from ISS (International Space Station) empty. The gumdrop-shaped capsule landed at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, without astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry E Wilmore. The capsule, which was slowed down by parachutes and cushioned by airbags, departed ISS six hours earlier to its landing.
The unexpected thruster malfunction and helium leaks made NASA decide to bring the astronauts home in Boeing’s rival SpaceX, but will have to wait until February 2025.
The ground team reported hearing sonic booms as the Starliner streaked red hot across the night sky, having endured temperatures of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius) during atmospheric re-entry.
Boeing, the aerospace giant, already has a marred reputation concerning its passenger jets lately. It has made assurance in public and private that that it could be trusted to bring the astronauts home. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) did not share the same assessment as Boeing, in bringing back the stranded astronauts.
Also Read: Sunita Williams, Butch Willmore Could ‘Vaporise To Death’ On Re-Entry: Expert
“Boeing believed in the model that they had created that tried to predict the thruster degradation for the rest of the flight,” Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, told reporters. He said the NASA team could not get comfortable with it due to the uncertainty in the modelling.
The Starliner, shortly after undocking, executed a powerful “breakout burn” to swiftly clear it from the station and prevent any risk of collision. The maneuver would have been unnecessary if the crew were abroad to take manual control if needed.
NASA gave Boeing and SpaceX multibillion-dollar contracts over a decade ago to develop spacecraft to taxi astronauts to and from the ISS, after the end of the Space Shuttle program left the US space agency reliant on Russian rockets.
Though initially it was perceived as the underdog,Elon Musk’s SpaceX surged ahead of mighty Boeing, successfully flying dozens of astronauts since 2020. At the same time, the Starliner has faced many hurdles.
During its first uncrewed test flight in 2019, a software glitch prevented the capsule from rendezvousing with the ISS. A second software issue, which could have caused a catastrophic collision between its modules, was caught and fixed just in time.
The rocket poised on the launchpad for another attempt, blocked valves made way for another postponement in 2021. When the capsule finally reached the ISS in May 2022 on a non-crewed flight, further issues, including weak parachutes and flammable tape in the cabin that needed removal, delayed the crewed test.
For the current mission, astronauts Wilmore and Williams had been strapped into their seats and ready to fly twice before last-minute “scrubs” due to technical glitches
