spacetoday.net: Starliner makes uncrewed return from ISS

Posted: Sun, Sep 8, 2024, 10:07 AM ET (1407 GMT)
CST-100 Starliner landing at end of CFT mission (NASA)

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner landed in New Mexico early Saturday, concluding its Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission but without a crew on board. The spacecraft undocked from the station at 6:04 pm EDT (2204 GMT) Friday and later performed a deorbit burn, landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 12:01 am EDT (0401 GMT) Saturday. The landing came two weeks after NASA decided to keep astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to the station on Starliner in June, on the ISS out of concerns about the performance of the thrusters on the spacecraft. NASA said after landing that the spacecraft made a "bulls-eye" landing but there were glitches with a couple thrusters and with a navigation computer. NASA and Boeing will now work to fix problems with thrusters as well as helium leaks on the spacecraft, with no timeline yet for a next flight.