The Starliner crew module, which went on a massive mission, will return with empty seats. It will undock from the International Space Station on Friday evening (EDT). It will land at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico after about 6 hours. From the time the Starliner undocks until it reaches Earth, NASA evaluates all potential hazards.

NASA’s current safety measures and plans indicate that the undocking of the Starliner was not that simple and safe. The Starliner and the space station are equipped with a series of spring-loaded mechanisms that rapidly move away from the station once the docking hooks are released.

A pair of springs like this push the vehicle away to prevent it from colliding with the space station itself due to deterioration of the thrusters or otherwise. NASA also strives to ensure the safety of the space station crew.

SpaceX’s Dragon 8 probe is also set to be used as a lifeboat to avoid potential hazards during undocking and after remaining on the space station. The spacecraft can be used for rescue missions in dangerous situations for the crew currently on the space station.

What is the hidden danger?

When the Starliner arrived at the station in June, agency officials explained that the decision to return Starliner without a crew was made because of problems with the malfunctioning reaction control system thrusters and insufficient understanding of how current performance would be. NASA and Boeing are waiting to determine what caused the drop in performance of the thrusters during Starliner’s undocking and return to Earth. This return will be a performance appraisal.

The passengers will stay there, NASA is not willing to take the risk

NASA announced on August 24 that astronauts will return to Earth in February 2025 and the Boeing spacecraft will return without its crew. After the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle accidents, NASA is not ready to take responsibility for another major accident. Therefore, it was after a tense meeting with Boeing that the various aspects were examined and the decision was taken to return the probe without passengers.

This was the mission

Crew Space Transportation The Starliner, officially known as the CST-100 (Crew Space Transportation), was a reusable spacecraft developed by Boeing in collaboration with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner was designed to transport crews to the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth orbit targets. NASA’s Starliner was intended to be the second US spacecraft capable of ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS, similar to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.

The CST-100 Starliner was designed to carry up to seven passengers or crew and cargo into orbit. It was intended to provide NASA with another means of transportation to the ISS, reducing its reliance on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The probe was launched on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.

India-born Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore left Earth on June 5 as part of Starliner’s first manned mission to the ISS. The plan was to reach the ISS on June 7 and return on June 13. But the failure of the Starliner spacecraft’s thrusters and a helium leak changed everything.

Five of the 28 thrusters used to control the direction of the Starliner probe malfunctioned during the docking attempt to the ISS. With this, the test mission, which was supposed to be a few days, was extended indefinitely.

Musk’s SpaceX to help

NASA is also activating the SpaceX possibilities for the return journey of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were stranded on the International Space Station (ISS). Plans are underway to bring them back with two seats on the SpaceX Crew Dragon scheduled for February next year.