Starliner Suffers New Problems While Coming Back to Earth

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9-09-2024, 19:50

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INA - SOURCES

NASA's Starliner spacecraft finally made it back to the ground.

The capsule landed in the New Mexico desert after spending just over three months in space. But thanks to technical issues worrying NASA officials, it left behind the agency's two stranded astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, bookending a disastrous first crewed flight attempt.

The pair will have to wait for their ride back, on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, until February.

Signals on the capsule's return were mixed. On the one hand, according to NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich, it pulled off a "bullseye landing." On the other, the agency admitted that a new thruster had failed during its descent. The capsule also experienced a temporary blackout of Starliner's guidance system during reentry.