NASA Prepares For Boeing Starliner's Return Without Sunita Williams & Butch Wilmore: Check Landing Schedule

The Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which failed its crewed test mission due to technical issues, will return from orbit on Friday. It will attempt a landing in New Mexico on Saturday.

The Boeing Starliner space capsule-- which lost the confidence of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officials to safely bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams back home from the International Space Station (ISS)-- will begin its return from orbit without any crew on Friday. If all goes well, the Boeing Starliner will make a parachute landing in New Mexico early on Saturday, as per reports. 

The Starliner carried Indian-origin astronaut Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore for what was meant to be an eight-day mission to ISS on June 5 on its first crewed test flight. But Starliner's development was plagued by delays due to thruster failures and helium leaks. 

Starliner's Return Schedule

As per NASA's plan, the Starliner will undock on Friday at 6:04 pm, depending on the weather. It will be steered toward Earth using thruster burns. It is expected that the uncrewed capsule will land at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico around 12:03 am Saturday.

“It’s been a journey to get here, and we’re excited to have Starliner undock and return,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said during a news conference.

NASA's Plan To Bring Back Sunita Williams

NASA insists that Wilmore and Williams were never stuck or stranded, but announced they won’t likely return to Earth until February of 2025. “They always had a way to depart the space station. To me, when somebody is stranded, there’s a location where they cannot leave,” Stich said.

Much to the embarrassment of Boeing, both astronauts are now scheduled to return on rival SpaceX’s next Crew Dragon mission, set to launch with two crew instead of four.

However, Boeing has claimed the Starliner was safe enough to bring the astronauts back. The company, in a statement, said, “We are executing the mission as determined by NASA, and we are preparing the spacecraft for a safe and successful uncrewed return.” 

NASA, meanwhile, said that now Boeing will have to continue to run tests on the Starliner on the ground before it can be fully certified for future crewed flights.