After months of turmoil over its safety, Boeing's new astronaut capsule has departed the International Space Station, headed for Earth, without its crew.
It left without astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore , who were due to fly the capsule home in June after an eight-day mission.After months of turmoil over its safety, Boeing's new astronaut capsule has departed the International Space Station without its crew and headed back to Earth.
"She's on her way home," astronaut Suni Williams radioed after Starliner exited on Friday local time. Boeing's first astronaut flight caps a journey filled with delays and setbacks. After the space shuttles retired more than a decade ago, NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX for orbital taxi service. As veteran astronauts and retired navy captains, Wilmore and Williams anticipated hurdles on the test flight.
With NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore stranded aboard the ISS for months, a decorated former astronaut tells the ABC they would know and have trained for the risks but the view is definitely worth it. A minute after separating from the space station, Starliner's thrusters could be seen firing as the white, blue-trimmed capsule slowly backed away. NASA Mission Control called it a "perfect" departure.
Spacex NASA International Space Station Suni Williams Butch Wilmore
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