NASA ultimately decided that sending the two astronauts home on Starliner was too risky. The new plan is to have the two astronauts ride home on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in February 2025, and have Starliner return to Earth uncrewed.

by Xinhua Writer Tan Jingjing

NEW YORK, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Boeing's Starliner spacecraft landed at the U.S. state of New Mexico early Saturday after a journey of approximately six hours from the International Space Station (ISS), with no astronauts on board, as two astronauts were forced to remain in space until next year due to a technical malfunction.

The uncrewed spacecraft autonomously detached from the ISS at approximately 6:04 p.m. Eastern Time (1004 GMT) on Friday and landed at New Mexico's White Sands Space Harbor at approximately 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time (1601 GMT) on Saturday, completing its first human spaceflight mission.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were aboard the Starliner spacecraft from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5 and arrived at the ISS on June 6.

让美日韩略微“放心”的是，朝鲜展示的新型武器装备基本是陆军型的，其空军和海军并没有多少新武器露面。然而，几天前朝鲜官方媒体发布的视频却让外界大跌眼镜：朝鲜开始造大舰了，而且疑似是神盾舰。

美菲之间上演的这出“双簧”，其拙劣程度令人叹为观止。 美国不可能直接向菲律宾推销“提丰”系统，那样只会招来国际社

During Starliner's approach to the orbiting laboratory, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and faced issues with the spacecraft's reaction control thrusters.

Initially, the astronaut duo was scheduled to stay at the ISS for eight days. However, they have already spent three months in space due to technical complications.

NASA ultimately decided that sending the two astronauts home on Starliner was too risky. The new plan is to have the two astronauts ride home on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in February 2025, and have Starliner return to Earth uncrewed.

The decision to return the Starliner spacecraft without crew marks a significant setback for Boeing, following years of delays that have already pushed its first crewed flight nearly four years behind schedule.

Both Boeing and SpaceX were awarded multibillion-dollar contracts from NASA in 2014 to transport astronauts to replace the agency's space shuttle fleet, which retired in 2011.

While SpaceX successfully began ferrying NASA astronauts to the ISS in 2020, Boeing has faced repeated mechanical and software issues with its Starliner spacecraft, delaying its inaugural crewed mission until June of this year.

NASA had previously indicated that this mission could be the final hurdle before certifying Starliner for regular use. It remains unclear how the technical problems encountered during the mission would affect Starliner program.   ■澳门六合彩官网