NASA’s Boeing Starliner spacecraft is preparing to make its return to Earth this Saturday. Despite astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams remaining aboard the International Space Station (ISS) until February 2025, the spacecraft itself will be heading back home.
The uncrewed Starliner is scheduled to autonomously undock from the ISS at approximately 3:15am IST on Friday, provided weather conditions are favourable. It will then embark on its journey to White Sands Space Harbour in New Mexico, where a landing is targeted for 09:33 am on Saturday.
NASA and Boeing will be providing live coverage of the spacecraft’s return and associated activities, which will be available for streaming on NASA+, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Wilmore and Williams originally launched aboard the Starliner on June 5, arriving at the space station the following day. However, issues with helium leaks and the spacecraft’s reaction control thrusters led NASA to decide on August 24 that Starliner would return without its crew.
The astronauts will remain on the ISS and are scheduled to return to Earth in February 2025 aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission which is set to launch no earlier than September 24, bringing additional crew members to the ISS.
