Boeing Starliner capsule is on its way home from space -- without astronauts on board

Source: CNN Science

Updated 6:22 PM EDT, Fri September 6, 2024


CNN — Boeing’s Starliner capsule undocked from the International Space Station Friday evening — concluding its nearly three-month stay in space. But it’s flying with an empty cabin, leaving behind two test pilots who must now remain on the station for another five or six months.

The Starliner left its docking port at the space station just after 6 p.m. ET, according to NASA. The capsule will spend about six hours free-flying through orbit as it slowly makes its descent toward home. Before the capsule departed, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — the two NASA astronauts who flew Starliner to the space station back in June — wished the spacecraft, nicknamed “Calypso” by Williams, luck on its long-awaited and unexpected journey home.

“It is time to bring Calypso home,” Williams said to mission control Friday evening. “You have got this. We have your backs, and you’ve got this. Bring her back to Earth.”

Close to midnight, the capsule is expected to reach one of the most important and treacherous legs of its test flight: reentry. The milestone will require the Starliner to carefully orient itself as it plunges into the thickest part of Earth’s atmosphere while still traveling at orbital speeds — typically more than 17,000 miles per hour (27,400 kilometers per hour).

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/06/science/boeing-starliner-return-without-astronauts/index.html