The Starliner capsule that carried Sunita Williams to the space station will return to Earth on this date

NASA and Boeing have jointly decided that the Starline capsule will separate from the space station around 3:15 am on September 6, 2024. It will land on Earth at around 10 am on September 7. 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 with which Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore went to the space station on June 5. They were to return in the same spacecraft after 8 days. But due to technical glitches, both got stuck at the space station.

Also read: What is NASA’s Crew-9 program, through which Sunita Williams will return to Earth in February

Why was it decided to send the Starliner empty?

Two previous accidents have taken a toll on the minds of NASA scientists and administration. Due to which it was decided to land the Starliner empty. These accidents are- Challenger and Columbia space shuttle accidents. NASA administrator Bill Nelson is 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. In both the accidents, a total of 14 NASA astronauts were killed. Among them was Kalpana Chawla of Indian origin.

The full story of Starliner…

Sunita Williams went to the space station in the Starliner spacecraft. This was its first manned trial flight. If you read the story of Starliner, you will know that this spacecraft has been surrounded by problems from the beginning till the end.

Boeing Defense, Space and Security Company built the Starliner spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the space station. NASA asked Boeing to build this spacecraft under the Commercial Crew Program. Billions of rupees were funded. The model of this spacecraft was first introduced in 2010.

Also read: SpaceX Crew Dragon: What is SpaceX’s Dragon Crew capsule that will bring Sunita Williams back to Earth?

In October 2011, NASA gave Boeing the green signal to build the spacecraft. Starliner took 6 years to build. It was built in 2017. Test flights continued till 2019. No humans were involved in these flights. The first unmanned orbital flight test took place on 20 December 2019. There were no humans in this flight.

Due to two software glitches, it reached another orbit. Docking with the space station was not possible. Two days later, it landed at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Starliner’s second flight was also a mess

The second unmanned flight took place on 6 April 2020. The purpose was to reach the space station. Docking was to be done. Then return. But the launch had to be postponed. Preparations for the launch were made in August 2021. But then deficiencies were found in 13 propulsion valves of the spacecraft.

After this, Boeing rebuilt the entire spacecraft. Preparations were made for a trial flight in May 2022. On May 19, 2022, the Starliner flew again. This time two dummy astronauts were seated in it. That is, inanimate models looking like humans. But the orbital maneuvering and attitude control system thrusters failed.

Also read: Starliner Mission Abort: Boeing’s faulty spacecraft will return to Earth without Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore

Somehow, on 22 May 2022, Starliner was connected to the space station. On 25 May 2022, Starliner returned to Earth from the space station. During reentry, the navigation system of the spacecraft malfunctioned. Communication went haywire. Also, the connection with the GPS satellite was lost. But Boeing said this is normal.

The third flight took place after being postponed several times…

The third manned flight was scheduled for 2017. But due to several reasons, it got delayed till July 2023. On 1 June 2023, Boeing said that we are postponing this flight. On 7 August 2023, the company said that all the problems of the spacecraft have been resolved. The next flight was scheduled for 6 May 2024. That is, this year.

But this launch was postponed again because there was some problem with the oxygen valve in the Atlas rocket. After this, the launch was postponed due to helium leak in the spacecraft. On June 5, Sunita Williams and Barry Butch Wilmore left for space with this spacecraft. They were supposed to return 8 days later on June 13, but till now they are stuck on the space station.

Also read: NASA’s big announcement… Sunita Williams will return to Earth in February via SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft

This was the first manned flight of the Starliner…

This is the first manned flight of the Starliner spacecraft. That is, 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 arises whether our astronauts are 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 stay comfortably and safely. If there is any problem with the spacecraft, it can be sent back to Earth at any time. The delay is being done out of caution.