NASA announced Saturday that Boeing’s Starliner had landed in New Mexico even though its crew remains on the International Space Station.
The Starliner touched down at 12 a.m. ET at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, completing Boeing’s crew flight test.
The two test pilots have been left in space and deemed to come back to Earth in February, after NASA said their return would be too risky.
Boeing launched a long-delayed mission in early June with Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on board. It was delayed several times due to thruster failures and helium leaks.
When trying to dock at the space station, five of the 28 thrusters went down.
Their eight-day mission turned into a months-long journey as engineers worked to understand what was wrong with the capsule.
The company insisted the Starliner was safe enough to bring Williams and Wilmore back to Earth but NASA determined in late August they would remain in space because it was unsafe to bring them home.
Even though the Starliner made a safe return to Earth, NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said he believes it was the right decision to keep Williams and Wilmore on board the International Space Station.
Williams and Wilmore have kept busy on board, helping with repairs and experiments, The Associated Press reported.
SpaceX will launch a venture in late September. On board will be two people going on a six-month mission, leaving two seats for Williams and Wilmore on the return flight in February.
The entire situation is a blow to Boeing, since it had long-awaited an opportunity to join the commercial space scene.
Boeing’s vice president and program manager of its commercial crew program, Mark Nappi, said in a statement the company will review the data and “determine the next steps for the program.”
