Boeing's new astronauts taxi successfully completed its demonstration mission to the International Space Station.
The Starliner capsule landed in New Mexico at 6:49 pm today. The time is 2249 GMT. Orbital Test Flight 2 was a success after the touchdown.
On May 19th, Starliner lifted off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and arrived at the International Space Station about 24 hours later. That was a huge milestone for Boeing, and one they had tried to achieve before.
Live updates: Boeing Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2 mission to ISS
Related: Boeing's Starliner OFT-2 test flight for NASA in amazing photos
The International Space Station was supposed to be rendezvoused with the original OFT in December, but a series of software problems prevented that. The previous mission ended with a touchdown, but it occurred sooner than expected. The OFT-2 was Starliner's do-over, and a major hurdle to overcome in certifying the vehicle to carry crew.
The Starliner left the International Space Station at 2:36 p.m. The time is 1836 GMT. At 6:05 p.m. The deorbit burn slowed the capsule's speed by more than 300 mph. After the burn ended, Starliner detached from its service module and began its plunge through the atmosphere. The air on our planet is 17 times the speed of sound.
At 6:44 pm. At just under five miles (9 kilometers) in altitude, Starliner dropped its heat shield and 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884
At an altitude of about 1.5 miles, the drogue chutes detached and Starliner's three main parachutes deployed, slowing the plane to a manageable impact speed. Starliner exposed its heat shield, which inflated to absorb the initial impact with the ground.
Terra firma touchdown are not the norm for American orbital crew capsule; NASA's Apollo and the Dragon vehicle have both ended their space missions with ocean splash downs. The space shuttles were built for runway landings on terra firma and sometimes returned to Earth.
NASA and Boeing said weather was the most important factor in deciding where Starliner would land. One of the alternatives was a different location within the WSMR, and the other sites were in Arizona, Utah and California.
According to Boeing representatives, Starliner came down exactly where it was supposed to, coming down within 0.2 miles of its target.
Starliner experienced a few problems during OFT-2. During the 30 minutes after launch, two of the thrusters on Starliners service module failed. The mission continued without incident after the backup thruster compensated for the malfunction.
The mission team members were confident that the thruster failures wouldn't affect the rest of OFT-2. They said that determining a root cause would have to wait until Starliners post-flight inspections.
If the analyses go well, NASA could certify Starliner for crewed flight, paving the way for a test mission to the International Space Station in the near future.
NASA human spaceflight chief Kathy Lueders said in a prelaunch press conference that the crewed test vehicle would be ready by the end of the year.
Boeing signed a contract with NASA. A similar deal was signed by the two companies at the same time, and they both have already launched astronauts to the International Space Station.
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