NASA confirmed Boeing’s Starliner will undock from the International Space Station and make its return to earth on Friday evening without astronauts onboard.
Boeing and NASA expressed confidence that Starliner would not encounter any issues before making a planned parachute landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. However, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will remain at the station for another six months with a planned return via SpaceX craft in February 2025.
According to Space.com, NASA said its decision to return without astronauts was met with some controversy during discussions with Boeing. Steve Stich, NASA’s Program Manager for the Commercial Crew Program, acknowledged during a Wednesday teleconference, “Anytime … where there’s this kind of decision, there is some tension in the room.”
Stich added, “Boeing believed in the model that they had created to predict thruster degradation for the rest of the flight. The NASA team looked at the model and saw some limitation. It really had to do with, do we have confidence in the thrusters, and how much we could predict their degradation from undock through the deorbit burn?”
Originally, Starliner was set for a weeklong test flight, but issues with its thrusters and helium leaks posed too high a risk for astronauts to return on the capsule. NASA expects Starliner to land around 12:03 a.m. Saturday, and viewers can follow its return via a livestream.
