Never Stranded: Starliner Touches Down Safely In New Mexico

Boeing Starliner has successfully returned to Earth. The touchdown was at 12:00 AM EDT when Starliner landed at White Sands Space Harbor.

The spacecraft separated from the International Space Station at 6:04 PM EDT and immediately withdrew from the ISS 200-meter exclusion zone to begin its journey home. The departure was uneventful, as Starliner performed its maneuvers without incident.

Later, NASA noted some minor issues with thrusters and GPS reception during re-entry, but these problems did not rise to present any threat during re-entry.

According to NASA, Calypso should return to Boeing’s Starliner facility at Kennedy Space Center in “a couple of weeks.” Engineers and mission managers will first download onboard data.

Florida Media Now’s Starliner Coverage

The Return

After free-flying several hours smoothly, Starliner began its re-entry sequence at 11:17 PM EDT, where it began its return to Earth in earnest. There was very little departure from nominal performance throughout the re-entry sequence, with NASA commentators repeatedly mentioning that all was well and that “everything is quiet” in Mission Control Center in Houston.

As Starliner began its entry interface, cameras were able to track it as it blazed its way home through Earth’s atmosphere.

After slowing, Starliner’s drogue parachutes deployed successfully, further slowing the spacecraft:

Finally, touchdown.