HOUSTON — Troubled Boeing Starliner spacecraft will depart from the International Space Station Friday evening without astronauts, who will have to wait months to hitch a ride home with the Crew-9 spacecraft.
Ahead of Starliner’s return, NASA will host a pre-departure news conference at 12 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 4, from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA’s Commercial Crew and International Space Station Program managers and a flight director will participate.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for its first crewed flight, arriving at the space station on June 6. As Starliner approached the orbiting laboratory, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters.
Last week, the spacecraft was investigated for making a strange sound will attached to the space station. First flagged by Wilmore, officials determined it was an audio feedback issue within the communications system. However given the troubled history of the spacecraft, the strange sound prompted headlines about yet another spacecraft mystery.
For the safety of the astronauts, NASA announced on Aug. 24 that Starliner will return to Earth from the station without a crew. Wilmore and Williams will remain aboard the station and return home in February 2025 aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Two other crew members, previously assigned to the Crew-9 mission, will stay back on Earth in order to make room for Wilmore and Williams.
Crew-9 will fly SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which has been shuttling astronauts to space since the discontinuation of NASA's space shuttle program. NASA has been intending to have two private vendors - SpaceX and Boeing - as options for spaceflight. The ongoing issues with Boeing's Starliner has made it unclear when Boeing could enter the regular six-month rotation currently being supported by SpaceX.
Weather permitting, the uncrewed Boeing Starliner spacecraft will depart from the space station at approximately 6:04 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 6.
NASA and Boeing are targeting approximately 12:03 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 7, for the landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.