• By Kamal Kumar
  • Fri, 06 Sep 2024 02:24 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Boeing's Starliner Space Shuttle, which carried NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station (ISS), is set to return to the Earth without its passengers. The 'faulty' space shuttle will start its descent after undocking from ISS at 3.30 am IST in the dark of Saturday night - thus beginning a six-hour-long 'dicey' journey to New Mexico.

In an official release, NASA said that Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have finished packing the cargo and closed Starliner's hatch, readying it for its uncrewed departure. The return journey will take place in autonomous mode, the agency added.

Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore flew to the ISS aboard Boeing's Starliner, which was jointly developed by NASA and the aerospace manufacturer. The space shuttle, however, faced several issues during its journey, leaving the American space agency with no choice but to 'ground' it.

Starliner Dumped Amid Helium Leak, Other Troubles

Starliner faced helium leakage and outage of five of the eight aft-facing reaction control system thrusters, the spacecraft's Wikipedia page stated. This caused both the crew members to strand at the ISS, without any planning of such stay.

After much confusion and untoward delays, NASA later decided to ditch the Boeing spacecraft for the return mission of both astronauts and cited lessons from the past - Columbia (February 1, 2003, and Challenger (January 28, 1986) - for the change in stance. SpaceX Crew 9 spacecraft will carry both the stranded astronauts back to Earth in February 2025.

No Starliner Suits In SpaceX Flight

Both Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will not be wearing the Starliner suits while making their return journey aboard the SpaceX shuttle, NASA said. As both the suits are separately compatible with the original space shuttle, fresh SpaceX suits will be sent aboard the Crew-9 mission for the stranded duo.

Watch Boeing Starliner Return To Earth Live

Catch the Starliner's departure from the ISS by tuning in to NASA+. You can also watch via the NASA app, their official YouTube channel, or on NASA's website.