Boeing Starliner lands safely after aborted flight to International Space Station

Rebecca Speare-Cole22 December 2019

Boeing's Starliner has safely landed in the New Mexico desert after an aborted flight to the International Space Station.

The crew capsule touched down at the US Army's White Sands Missile Range in the dark on Sunday morning, marking the end of a two-day demo which was meant to last more than a week.

As it landed, a trio of red, white and blue parachutes popped open and airbags also inflated around the spacecraft to ease the impact.

"We pinpoint landed it," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said at a post-landing briefing.

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, which had been launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, descends by parachute
via REUTERS

The successful return capped a rocky start to a mission that was supposed to include a docking with the space station.

Its failure to do so could hold up the company's effort to launch astronauts for NASA next year.

Managers will review all the data before deciding whether to do another test flight or go straight to flying astronauts, said NASA's Steve Stich.

Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft after it landed in White Sands, New Mexico
NASA/AFP via Getty Images

After seeing this first test flight cut short and the space station docking canceled because of an improperly set clock on the capsule, Boeing employees were relieved to get the Starliner back.

Recovery teams cheered as they watched the capsule drift down through the air and make a bull's-eye landing.

The astronauts assigned to the first Starliner crew - two from NASA and one from Boeing - were part of the welcoming committee.

"A beautiful soft landing," said NASA astronaut Mike Fincke. "Can't wait to try it out."

Boeing, NASA, and US Army personnel work around the Boeing Starliner spacecraft shortly after it landed
AP

It was the first American-made capsule designed for astronauts to make a ground landing after returning from orbit.

Minutes after touchdown, top NASA and Boeing officials poured into Mission Control in Houston to congratulate the team.

The newly returned Starliner also got a personalized name: Calypso, after Jacques Cousteau's boat.

The capsule's first trip to space began with a smooth rocket ride from Cape Canaveral on Friday.

But barely a half hour into the flight, it failed to fire its thrusters to give chase to the space station and ended up in the wrong orbit.

The mission lasted nearly 50 hours and included 33 orbits around the Earth, about 100 orbits fewer than planned.

A test dummy named Rosie the Rocketeer - after Rosie the Riveter from World War II - rode in the commander's seat.

Also returning were holiday presents, clothes and food that should have been delivered to the space station crew.

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