Starliner Lands in New Mexico, Completes Station Mission

The Boeing Company’s Starliner spacecraft touched down safely at White Sands Space Harbor, New Mexico, at 6:49 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 25, wrapping up the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
 
Starliner settled gently onto its air bags following a parachute-assisted landing that helps set the stage for future crewed landings. The landing followed a deorbit burn at 6:05 p.m. EDT, separation of the spacecraft’s service module, and successful deployment of its three main parachutes and six airbags.
 
The six-day flight served as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities, demonstrating its ability to launch, dock to the International Space Station, reenter Earth’s orbit, and land safely. The success of OFT-2 brings the nation a significant step closer to having two unique human transportation systems to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station from U.S. soil.
 
The flight test began Thursday, May 19, when Starliner launched on the ULA Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Starliner docked to the orbiting laboratory on Friday, May 20, and the space station crew opened Starliner's hatch on Saturday, May 21. The spacecraft returned home with more than 600 pounds of cargo.
After NASA and Boeing review data from this test flight, teams will continue plans for Starliner and its next mission, the Crew Flight Test to the space station.
 

Boeing #Starliner Spacecraft Deorbit Burn and Land...

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Submitted by Yorktown, NY

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