Boeing’s Starliner capsule, whose adventures have given rise to a real soap opera, returned to Earth successfully on Saturday, without the astronauts who had taken it to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA having judged the risk too great. The capsule landed gently at 04:01 on the White Sands space station, in New Mexico, in the southwest of the United States, its descent slowed by parachutes and cushioned by airbags. It had left the ISS about six hours earlier, according to the video retransmission of the American space agency (NASA).
Ground crews reported hearing booms as the craft hurtled through the 1,650-degree-C night sky at supersonic speeds as it re-entered the atmosphere.
Eight months in space instead of eight days
The reputation of the American aeronautics giant – already dented by numerous recent problems with its airliners – took a further hit in June when thruster failures and helium leaks on the capsule were detected during the inaugural manned flight. Despite the manufacturer’s attempts to convince NASA of the safety of its aircraft, the space agency preferred to bring Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back via Boeing’s competitor, SpaceX, and its Crew Dragon capsule. The two astronauts, who will not return until next year, will remain in space for more than eight months while …
- ParisMatch
