Boeing will attempt to return its faulty Staralinern empty from the International Space Station later this week.
According to Associated Press, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Wednesday, September 4, that all the preparations to undock the Starliner capsule are completed.
The aircraft will begin its journey from the space station to the Earth on Friday, September 6, evening, and after six hours it will touch down at New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range.
NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said, “It’s been a journey to get here, and we’re excited to have Starliner return.”
Meanwhile, the two stuck astronauts of NASA, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will be left behind at the orbiting lab until 2025.
Astronauts will be brought back home in Elon Musk’s SpaceX aircraft in February 2025.
NASA chief Bill Nelson said in August, “NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February and that Starliner will return unscrewed.”
To note, Wilmore and Williams were the first crew to ride Starliner earlier in June for an eight-day test mission, but the thruster trouble and helium leaks had delayed their return back to Earth for eight months.
