Bullet points of Boeing's 1st crewed Starliner to return to Earth without astronauts on Sept. 6

Bullet points of Boeing's 1st crewed Starliner to return to Earth without astronauts on Sept. 6
- Boeing's Starliner capsule is scheduled to depart the International Space Station (ISS) on September 6, provided the weather cooperates and no technical issues arise.
- The capsule will undock at 6:04 p.m. EDT and land under parachutes six hours later in White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
- Starliner launched on June 5 on its first-ever crewed mission, carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the ISS.
- The capsule experienced a few helium leaks and five of its 28 reaction control system thrusters failed on the way to the orbiting lab.
- NASA and Boeing kept extending Starliner's orbital stay to study the thruster issue, but ultimately decided it was too risky to put the astronauts back on the capsule.
- The Boeing capsule will return home uncrewed, with flight controllers remotely commanding the spacecraft if needed for a safe undocking, re-entry, and landing.
- Starliner has come back to Earth autonomously twice before, at the end of uncrewed test flights in December 2019 and May 2022.
- NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will return home on a SpaceX Dragon capsule in February 2024.