The Starliner capsule’s return trip is scheduled for next Saturday and will take six hours. This will allow NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to Earth. The landing at the New Mexico rocket test site marks the end of Boeing’s first mission to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), according to the North American space agency NASA.
However, the landing may occur in another location, designated as a desert area in Utah. The final decision depends on the location with the best weather conditions. And if the capsule can land in several places, the departure date for the ISS can also be changed. Let us remind you that the return was originally scheduled for the 14th. NASA later moved it to the 18th because the astronauts were planning to walk into space on the 13th, which did not happen due to an equipment failure for one of the astronauts.
The Starliner capsule was launched on the 5th and docked with the ISS 24 hours later. The flight experienced several technical problems: four helium losses and failures of five of the 28 maneuvering engines. The capsule can be attached to the ISS for 45 days, but on this first mission the specified stay time was 17 days. The return journey is critical to making future spaceflights of the Boeing capsule viable. NASA will now have two spacecraft for crewed missions following the certification of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
Author: João Saramago
Source: CM Jornal
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