Boeing's inaugural manned spaceflight mission ended prematurely. The spacecraft, carrying astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, encountered multiple technical issues in space. As a result, the astronauts had to be left behind, and the empty capsule returned to Earth.
NASA had initiated this experimental test flight as part of Boeing's Crew Flight Test in June this year. Sunita Williams, an Indian-origin astronaut, and Butch Wilmore had reached the International Space Station on June 5th as part of the 10-day mission. However, on June 14th, when they were scheduled to return, the Starliner spacecraft faced technical issues like thruster failures and a helium leak.
Although Boeing claimed that the Starliner was safe for the astronauts' return, NASA disagreed. Consequently, the Starliner returned to Earth empty. Six hours after departing from the space station, the capsule landed safely at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
SpaceX is currently preparing a spacecraft to bring back the astronauts. Hence, Sunita and Wilmore are expected to stay at the space station for a few more months. NASA plans to send a Crew Dragon with two astronauts as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, possibly in September this year. The agency aims to bring Sunita and Wilmore back to Earth in February next year using this spacecraft.
