Boeing Starliner hatch closed, setting stage for unpiloted return to Earth Friday
CBSN
With its problematic mission finally winding down, Boeing's Starliner capsule was rigged for re-entry and its hatch closed Thursday, setting the stage for undocking and an unpiloted return to Earth overnight Friday in the final chapter of a disappointing test flight.
Ninety-two days after launching aboard the Starliner — a mission originally expected to last a little more than a week — commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams kept their thoughts to themselves as the hatch was closed at 1:29 p.m. EDT.
Leaving Wilmore and Williams behind, the Starliner is expected to undock from the International Space Station's forward Harmony module just after 6 p.m. Friday. Five hours and 15 minutes later, the spacecraft's powerful braking rockets are programmed to fire for about 59 seconds to drop the ship out of orbit.
An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday night while coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. The Black Hawk helicopter was carrying a crew of three. Officials said early Thursday that everyone on board both aircraft is believed dead, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly a quarter century.