UNMANNED STARLINER UNDOCKING & RETURNING TO EARTH

Over the past two decades, 85 flights have transported 239 astronauts to the International Space Station on either a NASA Space Shuttle or a Soyuz vehicle. In 2014 NASA awarded firm-fixed-price Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to complete their space flight development and conduct crewed missions to the ISS. As of May 2019, Boeing and SpaceX’s contracts were valued at $4.3 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively. Boeing had developed Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft. NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters on June 6 as Starliner approached the space station. NASA will return Boeing’s Starliner to Earth without astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams aboard the spacecraft. Wilmore and Williams will continue their work formally as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew through February 2025. They will fly home aboard a Dr