The Boeing Starliner’s strange test flight finally returned to Earth, but it’s empty

After years of delays, the first crewed flight test of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft launched on June 5th, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the International Space Station for what was supposed to be a short trip. However, after thruster issues and some leaks, their return trip on Starliner was postponed and eventually canceled.

On September 6th at 6:04PM ET, the Starliner spacecraft autonomously undocked from the ISS and returned home without its crew, who will stay aboard the ISS until they return to Earth with SpaceX's Crew-9 mission in 2025.

During a press conference in August, NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich justified the decision, saying, "...there was just too much uncertainty in the prediction of the thrusters." Before the spacecraft undocked, NASA traced a series of strange sounds it had been emitting to an "audio configuration between the space station and Starliner."

Follow along here for all of the updates as Starliner's crew make its way back to Earth.

The Boeing Starliner spacecraft successfully completed its uncrewed flight back to Earth, NASA announced overnight. The return ended the Starliner's most recent flight test months later than intended and leaves its original crew, NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams, aboard the International Space Station until next year.

The Starliner touched down right on time at 12:01 AM ET at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, according to NASA. Officials at the agency hailed its successful descent:

US astronaut Barry Wilmore called NASA ground crew on Saturday, asking for help with a repetitive knocking sound that was coming from the Boeing Starliner craft. The interaction was captured by a NASA Space Flight forum member, who included a recording of it in a post that was spotted by Ars Technica.