Before the capsule’s undocking, Wilmore and Williams prepared Starliner for its return to Earth. This included reconfiguring the seats for the uncrewed landing and packing cargo for ground crews to retrieve.
Additionally, NASA stated that the astronauts “returned standard visiting vehicle emergency hardware stowed inside Starliner back to the station for future mission operations.”
Despite the issues with the spacecraft, both NASA and Boeing officials expressed confidence in Starliner’s ability to return safely.
“We have confidence in the vehicle… We’ve had two good landings so far, and we’re expecting another one on Friday,” said Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, during a news conference earlier in the week.
Technical Challenges and Delays
The Starliner mission has faced numerous issues that contributed to the delays. Before the launch, technical problems plagued the spacecraft, with a tentative May 6 flight test being postponed due to an oxygen valve malfunction in a rocket from United Launch Alliance (ULA), the company responsible for launching the spacecraft into orbit.
