WASHINGTON, Aug. 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will provide live coverage
of the upcoming activities for Boeing's Starliner spacecraft
departure from the International Space Station and return to Earth.
The uncrewed spacecraft will depart from the orbiting laboratory
for a landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
Starliner is scheduled to autonomously undock from the space
station at approximately 6:04 p.m. EDT
Friday, Sept. 6, to begin the journey home, weather
conditions permitting. NASA and Boeing are targeting approximately
12:03 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 7, for the landing and conclusion
of the flight test.
NASA's live coverage of return and related activities will
stream on NASA+, the NASA app, and the agency's website. Learn how
to stream NASA programming through a variety of platforms
including social media.
Ahead of Starliner's return, NASA will host a pre-departure news
conference at 12 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 4, from the agency's Johnson
Space Center in Houston. NASA's
Commercial Crew and International Space Station Program managers
and a flight director will participate.
To attend the pre-departure news conference in person, U.S.
media must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom by 5 p.m., Tuesday, Sept.
3, at jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111. To join
the pre-departure news conference by phone, media must contact the
NASA newsroom no later than two hours prior to the start of the
call.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and
Suni Williams launched aboard
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June
5 for its first crewed flight, arriving at the space station
on June 6. As Starliner approached
the orbiting laboratory, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks
and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control
thrusters. For the safety of the astronauts, NASA announced on
Aug. 24 that Starliner will return to
Earth from the station without a crew. Wilmore and Williams will
remain aboard the station and return home in February 2025 aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft
with two other crew members assigned to NASA's SpaceX Crew-9
mission.
NASA's coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to
change based on real-time operations):
Wednesday, Sept.
4
12 p.m.
– Starliner pre-departure news conference from NASA's Johnson
Space Center on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency's
website.
Friday, Sept. 6
5:45
p.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+, the NASA
app, YouTube, and the agency's website.
6:04 p.m. – Undocking
10:50 p.m. – Coverage resumes
for deorbit burn, entry, and landing on NASA+, the NASA app,
YouTube, and the agency's website.
Saturday, Sept. 7
12:03
a.m. – Targeted landing
1:30 a.m. – Post-landing news
conference with the following participants:
- Joel Montalbano, deputy
associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at
NASA Headquarters in Washington
- Steve Stich, manager, Commercial
Crew Program, NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida
- Dana Weigel, manager,
International Space Station, NASA Johnson
- John Shannon, vice president,
Boeing Exploration Systems
- Mark Nappi, vice president and
program manager, Boeing Commercial Crew Program
Coverage of the post-landing news conference will stream live on
NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency's website.
To attend the post-landing news conference in person, U.S. media
must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom by 12
p.m., Sept. 6. To join the
post-landing news conference by phone, media must contact the NASA
Johnson newsroom no later than one hour prior to the start of the
event.
See full mission coverage, NASA's commercial crew blog, and more
information about the mission at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-sets-coverage-for-starliner-news-conference-return-to-earth-302235215.html
SOURCE NASA