I am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starliner’s safe return,
I want to recognize the work the Starliner teams did to ensure a successful and safe undocking, deorbit, re-entry and landing,
We are excited to have Starliner home safely. This was an important test flight for NASA in setting us up for future missions on the Starliner system,
Boeing believed in the model that they had created that tried to predict the thruster degradation for the rest of the flight,
It must be demoralising in a way when you’ve gone expecting to be up there for eight days and suddenly your mission turns into eight months,
At the same time this is a highly trained crew that knows that stuff like this can happen … they’re trained, they’re ready,
We remember every setback and every revelation with you,
Starliner is now on a path back to Earth,
Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible."
Following weeks of in-space and ground testing, technical interchange meetings, and agency reviews, NASA made the decision to prioritize safety and return Starliner without its crew,
Some of the science they've recently completed includes new ways to produce fiber optic cables and growing plants aboard the orbiting complex,
We have confidence in the vehicle, we have confidence that the de-orbit burn will be executed and we have two good landings with Starliner so far,