NASA postpones the return of the Starliner crew

The “Starliner” was originally scheduled to dock from the ISS on Friday with its first crew: NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams. Delaying the return will allow it to investigate problems such as a “sticky” oxidation valve and multiple helium leaks on the capsule, NASA said.

There were already technical problems with the ‘Starliner’ during the 24-hour flight to the ISS. In the meantime, five of the 28 maneuvering engines failed and several helium leaks were discovered in the spacecraft. The mission is crucial for the certification of the “Starliner” for routine flights to the ISS.

The capsule will land in the desert
The Starliner is expected to land in the desert at the White Sands Missile Range, a missile and drone technology test site in southern New Mexico, or a similar location, depending on weather conditions.

The ‘Starliner’ – a partially reusable spacecraft that consists of a three-metre tall crew capsule and a service module and, unlike the SpaceX ‘Crew Dragon’ space capsule, lands on Earth instead of on water – was postponed for years as the first manned test flight on June 5.

Alternative to SpaceX space capsule
In the future, the spacecraft will transport astronauts to the ISS as an alternative to the “Crew Dragon”. However, due to numerous problems, the project is years behind schedule, while the “Crew Dragon” has been regularly bringing astronauts to humanity’s outpost in space for several years.