Boeing's first astronaut mission ended Friday night with an empty capsule landing and two test pilots still in space, left behind until next year because NASA judged their return too risky.
Associated PressBoeing's first astronaut mission ended Friday night with an empty capsule landing and two test pilots still in space, left behind until next year because NASA judged their return too risky.
Boeing insisted after extensive testing that Starliner was safe to bring the two home, but NASA disagreed and booked a flight with SpaceX instead. Their SpaceX ride won't launch until the end of this month, which means they'll be up there until February — more than eight months after blasting off on what should have been a quick trip.
Williams stayed up late to see how everything turned out."A good landing, pretty awesome," said Boeing's Mission Control. Boeing did not participate in the Houston news briefing. But two of the company's top space and defense officials, Ted Colbert and Kay Sears, told employees in a note that they backed NASA's ruling.
As veteran astronauts and retired Navy captains, Wilmore and Williams anticipated hurdles on the test flight. They've kept busy in space, helping with repairs and experiments. The two are now full-time station crew members along with the seven others on board.
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