Boeing Starliner Has ‘Something to Prove’ After Space Glitch
- Unmanned capsule is scheduled to return to Earth on Sunday
- Boeing says data-retrieval issue was behind why mission failed
This article is for subscribers only.
Boeing Co.’s CST100-Starliner will return to Earth six days ahead of schedule and with “something to prove” after its failed mission to hook up with the International Space Station, said Jim Chilton, senior vice president of Boeing’s space unit.
The craft is set to land Sunday at 5:57 a.m. Mountain Time (7:57 a.m. Eastern) at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, with a 1:48 p.m. MST backup time if needed. The unmanned spacecraft took off Friday morning aboard an Atlas V rocket near Cape Canaveral, Florida. It soon ran into problems that resulted in the vessel entering orbit off course -- and raised further questions about Boeing’s engineering prowess.