Its descent slowed by parachutes and cushioned by airbags.
Boeing’s beleaguered Starliner returned to Earth from the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) with out astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry E Wilmore.
The gumdrop-shaped capsule landed gently on the White Sands Area Harbor in New Mexico at roughly 0401 GMT (9:30 am), its descent slowed by parachutes and cushioned by airbags, having departed the ISS round six hours earlier.
The #Starliner spacecraft is again on Earth.
At 12:01am ET Sept. 7, @BoeingSpace‘s uncrewed Starliner spacecraft landed in White Sands Area Harbor, New Mexico. pic.twitter.com/vTYvgPONVc
— NASA Industrial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) September 7, 2024
After years of delays, Starliner launched in June for what was meant to be a roughly weeklong check mission — a last shakedown earlier than it might lastly be licensed to ferry crew to and from the orbital laboratory.
However sudden thruster malfunctions and helium leaks on its approach up derailed these plans, and NASA in the end determined it was safer to deliver astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams again on a rival SpaceX Crew Dragon — although they’re going to have to attend till February 2025.