Unmanned Boeing Starliner to land in New Mexico this weekend

WHITE SANDS, N.M. (KRQE) – An unmanned Boeing Starliner spacecraft is set to return to Earth in two days, landing at the White Sands Space Harbor.

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NASA plans to undock the Boeing Starliner from the International Space Station (ISS) this Friday, September 6, at 6:04 p.m. Eastern time with the landing scheduled just after midnight at 12:04 a.m. Eastern time.

The mission was supposed to include two astronauts onboard the spacecraft returning from the ISS. However, technical problems including helium leaks and issues with the spacecraft’s thrusters led to the decision to delay their return and fly the Starliner back to Earth without crew members. The unmanned Starliner will complete a 60-second deorbit burn to ensure a safe trajectory into Earth’s atmosphere for landing.

White Sands has been a landing site for space missions before. In 2022, Boeing successfully landed an unmanned Starliner there after software errors delayed that mission for two years. The spacecraft took almost four hours to parachute safely to the ground, an experience described as similar to the feeling one might have while descending rapidly in an elevator. Another spacecraft also landed at White Sands in 2019 which further established the site as a pivotal location for space exploration.

NASA will be live streaming the undocking and landing on its website. Meanwhile, the astronauts currently aboard the ISS, who initially traveled on the Starliner in June, were expected to stay only eight days. Due to the delay, they will return to Earth on a different spacecraft in February next year.

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