Starliner to Come Home Without Crew: Boeing and NASA Plan Friday Reentry

Boeing and NASA are gearing up for a significant milestone this week as the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft prepares to return to Earth without its crew. This return mission, slated for Friday evening, marks a critical step in the ongoing development and testing of the Starliner, which has faced several challenges since its inception.

The Starliner, which is currently docked at the International Space Station (ISS), will begin its journey home on Friday, September 6, 2024, at 6:04 p.m. Eastern Time. The spacecraft is expected to land at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at around 12:03 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday. Unlike earlier plans that involved a more gradual separation from the ISS, this mission will execute a "breakout burn," allowing for a quicker departure due to the absence of a crew on board. This approach reduces stress on the spacecraft's reaction control system (RCS) thrusters, which have experienced issues during the mission.

One of the primary reasons for this uncrewed return is the discovery of problems with the thrusters and helium leaks, which have raised concerns about the spacecraft's safety for human passengers. NASA and Boeing engineers will conduct short test pulses of the thrusters during the descent to gather more data and determine how to address these issues before the Starliner is cleared for future crewed missions.

The return of the Starliner without its crew is part of a broader effort to ensure the spacecraft is fully functional and safe for human spaceflight. The astronauts who were initially slated to return on the Starliner will instead make their way back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule early next year. This decision highlights the ongoing competition between Boeing and SpaceX in NASA's commercial crew program.

The successful landing of the Starliner will allow NASA and Boeing to analyze the data, make necessary adjustments, and prepare the spacecraft for its next mission, hopefully with a crew onboard​