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17:51 GMT 24.08.2024 (Updated: 17:53 GMT 24.08.2024)
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The crew of Boeing’s troubled Starliner will return from the International Space Station (ISS) only in February 2025, while the ship itself will be returned without a crew, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said on Saturday.
«NASA has decided that [astronauts Barry «Butch» Wilmore and Sunita «Suni» Williams] will return with Crew-9 next February, and that Starliner will return uncrewed,» Nelson told a briefing.
The exact time for the spacecraft’s return to Earth remains unknown.
Starliner was launched with its two-astronaut crew on June 5 but five of its 28 thrusters failed at different times during its flight to the ISS and five helium leaks were also recorded.
The spacecraft’s return flight was originally scheduled for June 14 but has been repeatedly delayed since then while engineers back on Earth tried to solve the problems, NASA officials have acknowledged.
