After months of uncertainty about its safety, Boeing’s new astronaut capsule left the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday without its crew and headed back to Earth.
The two NASA test pilots remained at the space station — their home until next year — while the capsule Starliner undocked 260 miles (420 kilometers) above China. The return flight is expected to take six hours, with a night landing in the New Mexico desert.
“She’s on her way back,” astronaut Suni Williams radioed after the launch. Starliner.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore should have brought back Starliner to Earth in June, a week after launch, but thruster failures and helium leaks marred the journey to the ISS.
NASA eventually decided it was too risky to bring the duo back on board Starliner. The fully automated capsule left with their empty seats and blue spacesuits, as well as some old station equipment. SpaceX will bring the duo back in late February, extending their initial eight-day mission to more than eight months.
The first flight of a Boeing astronaut caps a journey full of delays and failures. After the space shuttles were retired more than a decade ago, NASA turned to Boeing and SpaceX to provide orbital “taxi” service.
Boeing had so many problems on its first unmanned test flight in 2019 that it had to repeat it. The 2022 flight revealed even more flaws, and the repair bill ran to more than $1 billion.
SpaceX’s crew ferry flight later this month will be its 10th for NASA since 2020. The Dragon capsule will launch with just two astronauts on board, as two seats are reserved for Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore for the return flight.
As veteran astronauts and retired Navy captains, they expected obstacles during the test flight. They’ve been busy in space, helping with repairs and science experiments. They’re now full-time members of the station’s crew, along with the seven other people on board.
Even before the launch on June 5, the propulsion system of Starliner had a helium leak. The leak was small and thought to be isolated, but four more appeared after liftoff, and then five thrusters failed. Four of them were recovered, but NASA wondered if other malfunctions might hamper the capsule’s descent from orbit.
Boeing conducted extensive thruster tests in space and on the ground over the summer, and was confident its spacecraft could bring Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore home safely. But NASA disagreed and opted for SpaceX.
A minute after leaving the space station, the thrusters could be seen Starliner light up as the white and blue capsule slowly drifted away. NASA mission control called the departure “perfect.”
Flight controllers have planned more firing tests of the capsule’s thrusters after undocking. Engineers believe that the more the thrusters are fired, the hotter they become, causing the protective seals to swell and obstruct the flow of propellant. They won’t be able to examine any of the parts since the section containing the thrusters will be jettisoned just before reentry.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said earlier this week that teams were so focused on getting Starliner that they had not had time to think about what would happen next for Boeing.
He added that the space agency remained committed to having two competing American companies carry astronauts.