Ailing Starliner spacecraft returns to Earth sans crew

• The Boeing Starliner spacecraft landed safely – without its crew – late at night on Friday, September 6, 2024, in the White Sands desert in New Mexico.
• Its two Starliner astronauts are still stranded at the International Space Station. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams went up to the ISS aboard Starliner, expecting to stay 8 days. They’ve been there all summer.
• Currently, the astronauts’ planned return is in February 2025, aboard a SpaceX Dragon 9 crew capsule, according to NASA.

Starliner spacecraft returns, without its astronauts

The uncrewed Starliner spacecraft landed at 10:01 p.m. MDT on September 6 (4:01 UTC on September 7) at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, “concluding” a three-month flight test to the International Space Station, according to NASA.

However, Starliner’s human crew has not been returned safely to Earth yet. Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams are still aboard the ISS and are not expected to be able to return until early 2025.

NASA and Boeing have committed at least $6.7 billion to the Starliner program since 2010.

NASA was slow to opt not to risk astronauts’ lives

NASA and Boeing didn’t decide until late August to send the malfunctioning Starliner crew capsule home empty.

The announcement came during a press conference Saturday morning, August 24, 2024. Instead of returning via a leaky spacecraft with a thruster issue, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are now scheduled to return to Earth in February 2025 aboard the SpaceX Dragon 9 crew capsule. The decision marks the end of a months-long drama over the flightworthiness of the troubled Boeing craft.

Driving the decision not to gamble with the lives of the Starliner crew – astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams – was a lack of confidence in the Starliner capsule that carried them to the ISS. That was weeks after NASA had said the crew could return “at any time” in Starliner. In a post-conference statement, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said:

The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star.

In the statement, the manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Steve Stich, said space engineers ultimately were simply unsure Boeing Starliner craft was safe:

Ultimately, this comes down to needing a higher level of certainty to perform a crewed return.

Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, tried to highlight the bright side of the mission failure:

We’ve learned a lot about the spacecraft during its journey to the station and its docked operations. We also will continue to gather more data about Starliner during the uncrewed return and improve the system for future flights to the space station.

Read more at NASA’s Starliner blog.

Butch and Suni say they are happy to stay longer

So Wilmore and Williams – whose mission to the ISS was originally planned to last eight days – will spend an additional six months or so in space. They arrived at the station on June 6. So they’ll spend around nine months total pressed into service in orbit.

Meanwhile flight engineers are scrambling. According to NASA, they are:

… currently working several items before launch, including reconfiguring seats on the Crew-9 Dragon and adjusting the manifest to carry additional cargo, personal effects, and Dragon-specific spacesuits for Wilmore and Williams.

They’re also switching liftoff to the historic launch pad Slick Forty:

In addition, NASA and SpaceX now will use new facilities at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to launch Crew-9, which provides increased operational flexibility around NASA’s planned Europa Clipper launch.

Very little official news before NASA ditched Starliner

Earlier this month, Ars Technica spaceflight editor Eric Berger succinctly summed up media frustration with the lack of any solid news from NASA and Boeing about the return of the two Starliner astronauts. In a single tweet on August 14, he wrote:

At the top of today's Starliner press call NASA's Ken Bowersox said the agency doesn't have any big announcements today. No surprise, as they're still working the issue. However, see below for what I'm hearing. https://t.co/xPI5bXRRME

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) August 14, 2024

At that time, Berger’s sources had suggested Butch and Suni would return on the SpaceX Dragon 9 capsule. He also tweeted about NASA chief astronaut Joe Acaba’s statement that the astronauts were ready to stay until early next year:

NASA's chief astronaut, Joe Acaba, says Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched to the ISS prepared for all contingencies. Says a potential eight-month increment on the station is will within the safety range for long-duration stays.

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) August 14, 2024

What, when, how?

NASA had said on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, that more time was needed to “finalize return planning” of the Boeing Starliner crew capsule, with its crew of two astronauts. Hidden in the jargon appeared to be a message that space engineers simply weren’t ready. That announcement had come two months to the day after the spacecraft docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on June 6, amidst helium leaks in the craft and a thruster issue, after carrying astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams to the ISS. The NASA announcement on August 6 said:

Starliner ground teams are taking their time to analyze the results of recent docked hot-fire testing, finalize flight rationale for the spacecraft’s integrated propulsion system, and confirm system reliability ahead of Starliner’s return to Earth. NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate the spacecraft’s readiness, and no decisions have been made regarding Starliner’s return.

Note that the phrase flight rationale has a very precise meaning for NASA mission controllers.

That is, following the Challenger disaster in 1986, NASA devised a formal review process known as the Seven Elements of Flight Rationale to avoid another preventable disaster. The review reveals weaknesses and errors in judgement when preparing to use faulty equipment.

Controllers evaluated ‘residual flight risk’

The process also allowed mission managers to know how much “residual flight risk” astronauts like Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams face in these situations. Should the propulsion system on Starliner fail during undocking, it could cause it to collide with the ISS. The propulsion system is also necessary for navigating the craft back to Earth.

An incorrect entry trajectory could cause the craft to burn up Earth’s atmosphere. Or the craft, with its two astronauts aboard, might have skipped off Earth’s atmosphere and headed into deep space.

Earlier, controllers said ‘return at any time’

In late July, NASA’s Steve Stich and Boeing’s Mark Nappi gave a detailed technical description of testing performed on the craft’s malfunctioning thruster system. They also discussed the helium leaks that delayed the launch and are ongoing. Flight controls say neither issue would prevent the craft – and its astronauts – from returning safely.

But they still wouldn’t give a firm date for Starliner’s undocking. Stich explained then why they were hesitant:

Boy, I hate to pick a date. I mean I think you know if we have an agency review next week and that review is successful and everybody polls ‘go to proceed,’ I mean it’s a little bit of time after that, right? So depending on what’s going on at the ISS. It’s kind of a busy time at the ISS, if you just look at the next few weeks.

When the NASA-Boeing Starliner mission began in early June 2024, it was a year behind schedule and $1.4 billion over budget. Starliner has encountered many challenges along the way, including during its launch and subsequent “harrowing” journey to the International Space Station. That’s according to Eric Berger – the senior space editor at Ars Technica – who spoke with EarthSky’s Dave Adalian LIVE on Monday, July 1. They discussed Starliner’s issues and more. Watch the replay above or find us on YouTube.

Hugs all around! The Expedition 71 crew greets Butch Wilmore and @Astro_Suni aboard @Space_Station after #Starliner docked at 1:34 p.m. ET on June 6. pic.twitter.com/wQZAYy2LGH

— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) June 6, 2024

Starliner docking confirmed!

The #Starliner crewed spacecraft docked to the @Space_Station at 1:34pm ET with @NASA_Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. pic.twitter.com/rTzuUHdABm

— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) June 6, 2024

Rewatch the launch

Rewatch the livestream of the 1st crewed launch of Boeing Starliner in the player above.

Bottom line: Boeing’s problem-plagued Starliner capsule landed safely – without its crew – on Friday night. The 2 astronauts are still stuck aboard the ISS, slated to return in February.

Read more: The Atlantic: Boeing launch can’t afford to fail