On Wednesday, September 4th, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced that Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will undock from the International Space Station on Friday night and return to Earth without carrying any astronauts.
This means that the two NASA astronauts who arrived at the space station aboard the Starliner will remain in the orbiting laboratory. Due to a leak in the Boeing spacecraft and some thruster malfunctions, the originally planned 8-day mission to dock with the International Space Station has been extended to eight months.
NASA has stated that the two astronauts will return to Earth in February next year with SpaceX, as returning with the Starliner as originally planned poses too much risk for them.
Due to a helium leak affecting the propulsion system of the Starliner, NASA is eager to ensure the spacecraft departs from the space station quickly to prevent it from going out of control or, in the worst-case scenario imagined by experts, colliding with the space station.
Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager, said, “After completing a leg of the journey, we are pleased that the Starliner is able to return.”
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will close the hatch between the Starliner and the space station on Thursday. Boeing must make room for SpaceX’s arrival.
These two astronauts, unexpectedly stranded in outer space, will return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, scheduled to launch at the end of September this year.
Anthony Vareha, Chief Flight Director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, said during a conference call on Wednesday that the Starliner will utilize a “direct abort” maneuver, allowing for a faster and simpler departure from the space station than planned.
“We chose to do a direct abort because it allows the spacecraft to depart the space station more quickly and enables manual control if needed without crew on board,” Vareha explained.
“When we conduct a direct abort, there are significantly fewer variables to consider, which allows us to get the spacecraft back on track more quickly,” he added.