Watch the unmanned Starliner return live on Friday
On Friday, September 6, the Starliner spacecraft, which has been plagued by technical problems, is due to return to Earth. The mission can be followed live.
A US flag is hung in the hatch of the Starliner spaceship.
(Image: NASA)
The Starliner spacecraft from aerospace company Boeing, which is struggling with technical problems and stranded at the International Space Station (ISS), is to return to Earth unmanned on Friday, September 6. The US space agency NASA and Boeing had decided that a return with astronauts on board would be too dangerous. The two astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will have to remain on board the ISS at this time.
The Starliner mission is scheduled to begin on Friday at 5:45 in the afternoon, US East Coast time (23:45 CEST). Undocking is scheduled for 00:04 CEST, NASA announced. It is planned that the Starliner spacecraft will travel for around six hours before landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Interested parties can follow the mission live on YouTube or on a NASA website.
Back to Earth with "Breakout Burn"
For the return, NASA and Boeing engineers have come up with a trick to circumvent possible engine problems on the Starliner and relieve the strain on the engines during the undocking maneuver. Starliner is to perform a "breakout burn" to move away from the ISS more quickly. To accomplish this, the engines are operated twelve times in pulsating mode for a short period of time. The breakout burn will therefore not cause the same problems that occurred during the Starliner's approach to the space station, according to NASA. This should ensure the safety of the ISS, said Steve Stitch, Commercial Crew Program Manager at NASA.
As there is no crew on board, the maneuver can be carried out more easily with the "breakout burn". The Starliner spacecraft also moves away from the ISS more quickly as a result, so it is less at risk and the spacecraft can be brought home more quickly, according to NASA.
Another critical moment is the ignition of the engines to allow the Starliner to enter the Earth's atmosphere. The deorbit ignition of the engines should take around 60 seconds. The landing of the spacecraft on White Sands Harbor will then be cushioned by parachutes and deployable airbags.
Mission fraught with mishaps
On June 6, technical problems occurred with the engines when the Starliner docked with the ISS. There were also helium leaks in the propulsion systems. Since then, NASA has been working to rectify the problems. To this end, numerous tests were carried out and hardware was replicated on the ground, among other things, to identify and rectify the cause of the fault. However, this was not successful, so NASA decided to return the spacecraft to Earth unmanned on August 24. The stay of the two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were only supposed to stay on the ISS for about a week, has now been unintentionally extended by several months. NASA is currently planning their return for February 2025.
(olb)