143
Three months after the launch, the mission of the Boeing spacecraft ended, although it was supposed to last only 8 days.
Boeing's emergency spacecraft, called the Starliner, finally returned from its first manned test flight on September 7. Although there were no astronauts on board, the ship delivered to the ISS on June 6, and the mission itself was delayed for 8 months instead of the planned 3 days. For the crew of the problem ship, the mission in space is not over, because they remained on the International Space Station (ISS) for another 5 months, writes Space.
The Starliner spacecraft without astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams on board docked from the ISS on September 6, and on September 7 made a successful landing in the state of New Mexico, USA. The NASA astronauts that the spacecraft delivered to the ISS on June 6 did not fly home because of NASA's lack of confidence that it would be able to safely return people to Earth.
Thus ended the unsuccessful first manned test mission to orbit for the Boeing company's spacecraft, which NASA planned to use to deliver astronauts to the ISS alongside SpaceX's ships. It is not yet known what the future holds for this vehicle.
The problems with the Starliner ship began back in May of this year, when the launch into orbit, scheduled for May 25, was canceled due to the detection of helium leaks in the propulsion system of the ship. The launch into space took place on June 5, and new helium leaks occurred already in orbit, and on June 6, the ship was unable to dock with the ISS for the first time due to the failure of several engines.
For several months, NASA tried to solve the problems with the Starliner ship, but in the end it was decided to return it to Earth without a crew. NASA astronauts will be delivered home by a SpaceX spacecraft in about 5 months, i.e. next year.
In fact, the Starliner did not fly to Earth completely empty. There were two spacesuits of NASA astronauts on board, which they no longer need. The fact is that each spaceship has its own spacesuits. Therefore, Willmore and Williams will return to Earth in spacesuits suitable for a SpaceX ship.
The Starliner's landing itself went as planned and he parachuted down. By the way, this was the third landing for the Starliner ship. The fact is that the first two were carried out during test drone flights in December 2019 and May 2022. These flights were also accompanied by technical problems.
