On Friday night, Boeing’s inaugural crewed space mission concluded as the spacecraft returned to Earth without its astronauts. Both astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, remain in space and are expected to stay there until next year. NASA deemed their return too risky at this time.
The spacecraft, designed by Boeing, faced several issues that delayed its mission. Despite extensive testing, Boeing assured that the ‘Starliner’ spacecraft was safe for return. However, NASA disagreed and opted to use ‘SpaceX’ to bring the astronauts back instead.
The ‘SpaceX’ mission is not scheduled for launch until the end of this month, which means Williams and Wilmore will stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) until February. After departing from the space station, Williams communicated via radio, saying, “It’s heading home.”
Williams and Wilmore were originally scheduled to return to Earth in June, a week after the ‘Starliner’s’ launch. However, problems with the spacecraft’s thrusters and a helium leak left them stranded in space. NASA had indicated that bringing the astronauts back using the ‘Starliner’ would be too risky under the current conditions.
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