Starliner to return unmanned on Friday

The Alabama built Boeing Starliner is scheduled to autonomously undock from the space station at approximately 5:04 p.m. CDT on Friday, September 6 if weather allows, The Starliner will then journey home for an 11:03 p.m. landing and conclusion of the flight test.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched on-board Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for its first crewed flight, They arrived at the ISS on June 6 in a journey through space that was marred by helium leaks and failing thrusters.

As Starliner approached the orbiting laboratory, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters. For the safety of the astronauts, NASA announced on Aug. 24 that Starliner will return to Earth from the station without a crew.

Boeing executives and engineers strongly disagree with NASA's assessment that it was unsafe for Butch and Suni to return on the ISS.

NASA has overruled the company and ordered Wilmore and Williams to remain on-board the ISS and return home in February 2025 aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

On Monday, NASA reported that there were "strange noises" coming from Starliner's speaker system that remain unexplained.

That SpaceX mission cannot launch until Starliner is out of the way to free up the second docking port on the ISS. Once Starliner returns to Earth, SpaceX's Dragon9 can launch. It will bring two astronauts instead of the planned four.

Dragon8 and its crew can then return to Earth. Butch and Suni will join the Dragon9 crew for their six-month mission which has already been delayed a month due to the Starliner situation.

Starliner was largely built at United Launch Alliance's facility in Decatur.

To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com