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Starliner Capsule: NASA and Boeing have jointly decided that the Starliner capsule will separate from the space station on September 6, 2024 at around 3:15 pm. It will land on Earth on September 7 at around 10 am. The landing will be done at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
NASA will also broadcast it live on its social media handles and website. This is the same spacecraft that took Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to the space station on June 5. They were to return in the same spacecraft after 8 days, but due to technical fault, both of them are stuck on the space station.
Why was the decision to land the Starliner a no-go?
The last two accidents have taken a toll on NASA scientists and administration. This is why the decision to land the Starliner has been taken. These accidents are the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle accidents. NASA administrator Bill Nelson was so affected by these accidents that he decided to land the Starliner empty.
The Columbia space shuttle accident happened on 1 February 2003. The Challenger accident happened in January 1986. A total of 14 NASA astronauts were killed in both the accidents. Kalpana Chawla of Indian origin was also among them.
The Full Story of Starliner
Sunita Williams' trip to the station on the Starliner spacecraft was its first manned test flight. If you read the full story of Starliner, you will know that the spacecraft was plagued with problems from start to finish.
Boeing Defense, Space and Security Company built the Starliner spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from the space station. NASA had asked Boeing to build this spacecraft under the Commercial Crew Program. Billions of dollars were funded. A prototype of this spacecraft was first introduced in 2010.
NASA gave Boeing the green light to build the spacecraft in October 2011. The Starliner took 6 years to build and was completed in 2017. Test flights continued in 2019 as well. No humans were involved in these flights. The first unmanned orbital flight test took place on 20 December 2019. There were no humans on this flight.
Due to two software glitches, it reached another orbit. Could not connect with the space station. Landed two days later at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Another Starliner flight also malfunctioned
The second unmanned flight took place on 6 April 2020. Its purpose was to reach the space station, dock and return but the launch had to be postponed. Preparations for the launch were made in August 2021, but then a malfunction was detected in 13 propulsion valves of the spacecraft.
After this, Boeing rebuilt the entire spacecraft. Preparations were made for the trial flight in May 2022. On May 19, 2022, the Starliner flew again. This time two dummy astronauts were placed in it. That is, inanimate models that look like humans. But the orbital maneuver and attitude control system thrusters failed.
Somehow, on May 22, 2022, the Starliner connected with the space station. On May 25, 2022, the Starliner returned to Earth from the space station. During re-entry, the spacecraft's navigation system malfunctioned. A communication error occurred. Along with this, contact with the GPS satellite was also lost. But Boeing said that this is normal.
Third flight
The third manned flight was scheduled for 2017. But due to various reasons, it was delayed till July 2023. On June 1, 2023, Boeing said that we are avoiding this flight. On August 7, 2023, the company said that all the problems of the spacecraft have been resolved. The next flight was scheduled for May 6, 2024. That is, this year.
But this launch was postponed again because there was some problem in the oxygen valve of the Atlas rocket. Then the launch was cancelled due to helium leakage in the spacecraft. On June 5, Sunita Williams and Barry Butch Wilmore boarded this spacecraft and left for space. They were to return after 8 days on June 13 but they are still stranded on the space station.
This was the first manned flight of the Starliner.
This is the first manned flight of the Starliner spacecraft. This means that it has flown to the space station with Sunita and Barry. Space travel has always been full of dangers. But this mission has created trouble for Boeing. The question is, are our astronauts in danger on the space station?
The space station can dock eight spacecraft at a time. This means that there is a possibility of attaching a new spacecraft at any time. The 365 feet long space station has enough space where Sunita Williams can live comfortably and safely. If there is any problem with the spacecraft, it can be sent back to Earth at any time. The delay has happened due to caution.