Boeing's Starliner is about to land back on Earth: Here's how to watch it

Starliner makes its final descent with all three main parachutes fully deployed. Credit: NASA TV

UPDATE: Starship touched down in the New Mexico desert at White Sands Spaceport at 12:01:35 a.m. EDT. The craft's pair of drogue parachutes, three main parachutes and six airbags deployed in sequence, allowing the craft to land smoothly. Landing and recovery teams are awaiting clearance to approach the vehicle, but no doubt, champagne is already being popped at Boeing headquarters.

UPDATE: Live video from the International Space Station and two NASA chase planes shows the craft streaking through the atmosphere.

UPDATE: Starliner’s 59-second deorbit burn went off apparently without a hitch at 11:17 p.m. EDT. The much-scrutinized rear-facing thrusters appeared to be performing as needed, according to a telemetry display on NASA’s broadcast, which will be a major relief to Boeing and NASA. The service module also separated and performed its de-orbit burn. Starliner is now set to reenter the atmosphere and land around 12 a.m. EDT at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

UPDATE: The Boeing Starliner spacecraft departed the International Space Station at 6:04 p.m. EDT as planned and is on its way back to Earth. NASA's coverage resumes at 10:50 p.m. EDT ahead of the spacecraft's burn-up to deorbit, and can be seen in the video embedded below.

The following was posted earlier today:

NASA has announced the mission schedule for the Boeing Starliner spacecraft to leave the International Space Station (ISS) and It will return autonomously to Earth on Friday.

This comes after what was supposed to be a week-long test flight to the ISS. It became an eight-month stay for two astronauts – and a public relations fiasco for Boeing – after Starliner suffered helium leaks and thruster failures during the trip to the space station. Since launching on June 5, NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams have remained on the ISS along with the Expedition 71 crew.

POT announced in August The crew will return to Earth next February aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. However, they will not be the first astronauts to return to Earth in a different spacecraft than the one they took off on. Missions extended by unforeseen factors are rare..

Related: A brief history of astronauts trapped in space

During Starliner's return, the performance of the spacecraft's systems will be closely examined. Of particular concern are four of the service module's rear-facing attitude control thrusters that temporarily ceased its activity during initial docking attempts. (A fifth faulty booster has been deemed unusable for the remainder of the mission.)

You can watch the undocking on NASA's livestream, embedded below. Undocking is scheduled for 6:04 p.m. EDT, with landing planned for 12:03 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Sept. 7.

Return to Earth

From NASA Mission timeline released Thursday says safety and mission success remain top priorities for the teams during Starliner’s return.

As the first U.S. capsule designed to land on land, Starliner has a number of available landing sites at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico; Willcox, Arizona; and Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Edwards Air Force Base in California is also available as a contingency landing site.

NASA says it analyzes weather forecasts for the various landing sites, taking note of winds, ground temperatures, cloud ceiling height, visibility, precipitation and nearby storms. Once Starliner undocks from the ISS, gently pushed forward by springs, the spacecraft is expected to reach its landing site in as little as six hours.

NASA has altered the planned series of thruster firings that will propel Starliner away from the ISS in an attempt to minimize the use of the rear-facing thrusters, Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, explained in a statement. Press conference on September 4thAfter the initial undocking, the thrusters will be used in short bursts to maneuver the spacecraft away from the station in what NASA calls a “deorbit burn.” This simplified flight profile will slightly raise Starliner’s orbit, bringing it in front of the station and then above and behind it at a safe distance to perform its deorbit burn.

Before the deorbit burn, a final weather check will be conducted. Winds must be 16 km/h or less, according to NASA’s mission timeline: “If winds exceed these limits, teams will not conduct the deorbit burn and Starliner will attempt another landing 24 to 31 hours later.”

If the weather is acceptable, Starliner will perform its deorbit burn, which will last approximately 60 seconds. This will slow it down enough to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and land at its destination site.

The deorbit burn will be the toughest test for the Mercury thrusters. The primary burn will be performed by a separate system, the orbital attitude and maneuvering control (OMAC) engines. But the rear-facing thrusters will be needed to help maintain the spacecraft's attitude during the burn. “We're going to let those thrusters ignite as needed,” Stich said. “We're going to be conservative with the thruster burns near (the station) and then save them for the end of the flight when we'll need them most for the deorbit burn.”

Immediately following the deorbit burn, the spacecraft will reposition itself for service module removal, which will burn up during reentry over the South Pacific Ocean.

Upon re-entry, the capsule will reach temperatures of up to 1,650 degrees Celsius (3,000 degrees Fahrenheit), which could disrupt communications with the spacecraft for about four minutes. After this, the forward heat shield will be jettisoned from the top of the craft and several parachutes will be deployed at 9,140 meters (30,000 feet).

As the capsule continues to slow, the base's heat shield will peel away at 3,000 feet (900 meters), causing six landing bags to inflate. The spacecraft will travel at about 4 mph (6.4 km/h) upon touchdown.

Recovery begins

Following landing, several NASA and Boeing teams stationed near Starliner's landing site will head toward the spacecraft to perform recovery procedures. According to NASA's schedule:

1. Gold's team will use equipment to “sniff” the capsule for hypergolic fuels that have not burned completely before reentry. They will also coat the spacecraft's thrusters.
2. The silver team will then ground and electrically stabilize the Starliner capsule.
3. The green team will supply power and cooling to the crew module while the spacecraft is powered off.
4. The blue team will then document the recovery for public relations and future process review.
5. The Red Team, which includes Boeing's fire crew, EMTs and human factors engineers, will then open the Starliner's hatch.

Crews will begin unloading urgent cargo from Starliner. The spacecraft will then be flown to Boeing's facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for refurbishment.