Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, an uncrewed vessel that recently docked with the International Space Station (ISS), has embarked on its return journey to Earth. The capsule, which departed the ISS at approximately 3:30 am EST on Saturday, September 7, is now making its way back to our planet.
The departure was captured on video by NASA, showing Starliner smoothly backing away from the space station after undocking from the Harmony module’s forward port. Boeing shared updates on X, confirming the spacecraft’s exit from the ISS’s approach ellipsoid and its continued descent towards Earth.
Starliner is anticipated to land at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico shortly after 12 am ET, which translates to 9:30 am IST, on September 7. This successful mission, while uncrewed, marks a crucial step in Boeing’s efforts to develop a reliable and safe spacecraft for transporting astronauts to the ISS.
This return journey will provide valuable data for Boeing, allowing them to analyze the performance of the spacecraft and refine their systems for future crewed missions. The success of this mission paves the way for future crewed flights, potentially including NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were originally slated to fly on this mission before it was changed to an uncrewed test flight.
