STARLINER RETURNS HOME SANS CREW: BULLSEYE LANDING BUT THRUSTER TROUBLES KEEP CREW STRANDED!
In the pre-dawn New Mexico desert sky on Sunday, the Boeing-built Starliner spacecraft made a successful landing, breathing life again into what has been a challenging chapter for the aerospace giant's ambitions. However, what should have been a triumphant moment was clouded by the notable absence of a crew on board, a direct result of concerns about a potential thruster malfunction.
NASA's decision to opt for an unmanned capsule came amidst fears that the Starliner’s thrusters might malfunction during its return. These concerns were not unfounded but were rooted in similar issues witnessed during Starliner's fraught journey to the International Space Station (ISS). The absence of a crew aboard the Starliner was a strong reminder of NASA's meticulous approach to safety, a precaution honed from past space shuttle disasters.
The potential risk posed by the potential thruster failure forced NASA to make the difficult call to keep the two astronauts set to return on the Starliner at the ISS. This decision means the astronauts will remain in space until February, prolonging their stay by several weeks and necessitate their return via a SpaceX Dragon capsule instead.
The emptied spacecraft's smooth landing highlights a dichotomy for Boeing; while it signals a significant achievement in returning the Starliner safely, it's a symbolic setback for Boeing's space travel goals. This marker event is all the more frustrating considering this is not the first time that the Starliner has grappled with this issue; its previous two flights were also plagued by similar problems. Meanwhile, SpaceX, the firm's private space company competitor, has successfully developed and operated its own commercial crew program, a space taxi service, all on a budget that pales in comparison to NASA's funding for Boeing.
The commercial crew program was initiated by NASA as a way to stimulate industry involvement in low Earth orbit missions. This initiative allows the agency to focus its resources on more ambitious projects such as moon missions and beyond. As part of this program, NASA funding helped the likes of Boeing and SpaceX develop capsules to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS.
Despite the setback, the successful landing represents an opportunity for Boeing and NASA. The uncrewed descent and landing enable the companies to perform a thorough analysis and understand better the cause of the thruster's issue, with a specific focus on overheating, in a real-world environment. In the wake of this incident, these insights will be vital in rectifying the thruster malfunction and ensuring safety precautions for future missions.
The landing of Starliner brings to light important lessons for aerospace industry stakeholders about the risks and successes in pushing for further industry involvement in space exploration. Whether this marks the start of more such unmanned test missions until the problem at hand is resolved remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that this incident has and will continue to shape the approach to future missions, making safety a paramount priority in the next step towards commercialized space travel.