The uncrewed Boeing Starliner spacecraft is less than two minutes from landing on U.S. soil after spending three months at the International Space Station. Starliner is the first American-made orbital crew capsule designed to perform a ground landing as a reusable spacecraft.
The base heat shield separated from the spacecraft to allow the six airbags to inflate and brace for a ground landing. The three main parachutes are also slowing down the uncrewed capsule.
The airbags are filled with nitrogen to cushion Starliner’s landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. The NASA and Boeing landing and recovery team is stationed at a holding zone near the landing site. After landing, technicians will use equipment to “sniff” the spacecraft for any lingering hypergolic fluids before approaching Starliner, opening the hatch, and unloading time-critical cargo. The spacecraft will then be transported to Boeing facilities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA’s coverage continues on NASA+, the NASA app, and YouTube, and the agency’s website as Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner spacecraft begins entry interface 400,000 feet above Earth.
As the hottest part of re-entry, the spacecraft’s heat shield will reach 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit as it enters the atmosphere.
Starliner is equipped with an ablative heat shield containing a layer of plastic resin that will heat up to gas and carry the heat away from the crew capsule through convection. This process helps keep the temperature inside the capsule around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Similar heat shields were used on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecrafts.
The spacecraft is expected to land at approximately 12 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
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Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is seen during its return to Earth after undocking from the International Space Station at 6:04 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 6, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
NASA’s coverage is underway on NASA+, the NASA app, and YouTube, and the agency’s website as Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner spacecraft prepares for deorbit burn, entry, and landing.
Starliner autonomously undocked from the forward-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 6:04 p.m. EDT, and mission managers gave a “go” for the spacecraft to proceed for a deorbit burn.
Starliner’s deorbit burn is expected at 11:17 p.m. EDT and involves the spacecraft firing its larger orbital maneuvering and attitude control thrusters, providing the power necessary to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.
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The uncrewed Starliner spacecraft backs away from the International Space Station shortly after undocking from the Harmony module. Credit: NASA+
At 6:04 p.m. EDT, Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station. Starliner is headed for a deorbit burn at 11:17 p.m. and a targeted landing at 12 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
NASA’s coverage will begin at 10:50 p.m. for deorbit burn, entry, and landing on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
The Starliner spacecraft on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above the Mediterranean Sea. Photo credit: NASA
A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped. The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner. The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback. The crew is asked to contact mission control when they hear sounds originating in the comm system. The speaker feedback Wilmore reported has no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations, including Starliner’s uncrewed undocking from the station no earlier than Friday, Sept. 6.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
Engineering and spaceflight specialists from NASA and Boeing continue data analysis ahead of a decision this week on the path forward for the Starliner spacecraft’s return from the International Space Station.
NASA’s decision on whether to return Starliner to Earth with astronauts aboard is expected no earlier than Saturday, Aug. 24 at the conclusion of an agency-level review chaired by Ken Bowersox, the associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. The agency flight readiness review is where any formal dissents are presented and reconciled. Other agency leaders who routinely participate in launch and return readiness reviews for crewed missions include NASA’s administrator, deputy administrator, associate administrator, various agency center directors, the Flight Operations Directorate, and agency technical authorities.
NASA will host a televised news conference following the review’s conclusion to discuss the agency’s decision and next steps. More information on the news conference will be shared once confirmed. After the agency-level decision, program and flight control teams will continue preparing for Starliner’s return, including training sessions and other actions as appropriate.
Ahead of the agency-level review, NASA and Boeing are working to finalize and present flight rationale to various teams across the community and to the program control board. Engineering teams have been working to evaluate a new model that represents the thruster mechanics and is designed to more accurately predict performance during the return phase of flight. This data could help teams better understand system redundancy from undock to service module separation. Ongoing efforts to complete the new modelling, characterize spacecraft performance data, refine integrated risk assessments, and determine community recommendations will fold into the agency-level review.
Alongside the crew members of Expedition 71, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, continue supporting a host of research, maintenance, and other activities aboard the microgravity laboratory since arriving on Starliner on June 6.
The Starliner spacecraft on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above the Mediterranean Sea. Photo credit: NASA
NASA’s human spaceflight management team provided a media update Aug. 14 on the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test at the International Space Station. The group, including the Associate Administrator for Space Operations Ken Bowersox, highlighted the role safety plays as a core value at NASA and how safety guides the decision-making process for the mission.
The panel also touched on numerous aspects of the Crew Flight Test as NASA and Boeing evaluate the Starliner testing data generated over the past few weeks ahead of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program control board. NASA then plans to hold a readiness review where agency leadership will finalize the plan to return astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the space station. Following the readiness review, mission leadership will host a televised briefing to discuss the decision and path forward.
Listen to a full replay of the media update. Other briefing participants included:
Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
Russ DeLoach, chief, NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance
Although no final decisions have been made, teams are evaluating returning Wilmore and Williams aboard the Starliner spacecraft. In parallel, NASA also is looking more closely at the capability to return the crew as part of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Crew-9 will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24, and return to Earth in February 2025.
While work continues on Earth to analyze the Starliner spacecraft and its systems, Wilmore and Williams continued their work aboard the International Space Station. Since the mission is a flight test, the crew has undergone rigorous training for any duties or issues that may arise, and the astronauts are well prepared for all situations.
The main goal of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program is two unique human spaceflight systems. Should any one system encounter an issue, NASA still has the capability to launch and return crew members to ensure safety and a continuous human presence aboard the station.
The International Space Station is the world’s leading space laboratory where researchers conduct cutting-edge research and technology development that will enable human and robotic exploration of destinations beyond low Earth orbit, including the Moon and Mars.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. Photo credit: NASA
NASA and Boeing teams continue analyzing data from recent ground and spacecraft testing as they evaluate the Starliner spacecraft’s propulsion system during NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission.
Teams are taking their time to analyze the results of recent docked hot-fire testing, finalize flight rationale for the spacecraft’s integrated propulsion system, and confirm system reliability ahead of Starliner’s return to Earth from the International Space Station.
Forward work for the team also includes finalizing the spacecraft’s undocking procedures and operational mitigations that could be used in flight, if needed, to build further confidence in the system. Meanwhile, Starliner ground and mission support teams are continuing to prepare for undocking by participating in integrated simulations with space station operations teams.
Following the completion of Starliner’s return planning, which is expected to continue into next week, more information will be shared about the agency’s return readiness review preparations and subsequent media briefing. As always, astronaut safety remains the top priority for both NASA and Boeing.
While engineers conduct their spacecraft studies on Earth, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are closely following the ground team’s progress while aboard the station. The duo has integrated into the daily workload of the orbiting laboratory, giving the station a crew of nine as their mission overlaps with Expedition 71.
The astronauts worked primarily on lab upkeep aboard the orbiting outpost on Wednesday. Wilmore spent time inspecting advanced plumbing hardware then packed the life support components for return to Earth. Williams set up high-definition video gear inside the Columbus laboratory module then inspected a bar code reader and radio frequency hardware. Wilmore and Williams also partnered up and organized cargo inside the Tranquility module before calling into a Boeing mission controllers conference.
Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule docked to the Harmony module’s forward port at the International Space Station on July 3, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
Engineering teams with NASA and Boeing completed a hot fire test of the Starliner spacecraft’s reaction control system jets on July 27 to evaluate the spacecraft’s propulsion system. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, assigned to the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, were seated inside the docked spacecraft during the test as part of preparations before their return aboard Starliner from the International Space Station.
The test involved firing 27 of the spacecraft’s 28 jets for short bursts, moving through them one at a time to check thruster performance and helium leak rates. Preliminary results show all the tested thrusters are back to preflight levels based on thrust and chamber pressure.
As part of the test configuration, all helium manifolds, which control and direct the flow of helium, were opened allowing engineers to continue evaluation of Starliner’s helium supply and leak rates. The teams verified Starliner continues to show the margin needed to support a return trip from the station. Following the test, the helium manifolds were closed and will remain closed until Starliner activates its propulsion system ahead of undocking. Teams also will verify the helium leak rate before Starliner undocks.
Teams are taking their time to analyze the results of recent docked hot-fire testing, finalize flight rationale for the spacecraft’s integrated propulsion system, and confirm system redundancy ahead of Starliner’s return to Earth from the International Space Station.
While ground teams work to finalize Starliner’s return to Earth, Wilmore and Williams continue to work alongside the Expedition 71 crew, assisting with science investigations and maintenance activities. On July 29, Wilmore and Williams entered their spacecraft and checked its water systems, called down to Boeing mission personnel for a conference, and put on their space suits long enough to perform a pressure test. Wilmore started his morning in the Harmony module, assembling the BioServe centrifuge as Williams reviewed procedures for operating the Astrobee free-flying robotic assistants.
