Boeing™s (NYSE: BA) CST-100 Starliner crew capsule landed Sunday at the U.S. Army™s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico after completing its first orbital test flight.
The company said Sunday Starliner carrying an anthropometric test device called “Rosie equipped with several sensors for data collection launched Friday, Dec. 20, as part of its test flight to the International Space Station and spent two days on orbit to meet a few flight test objectives.
Flight controllers put the crew module into a lower orbit after addressing a mission timing anomaly. The capsule also demonstrated the capability of its airbags and parachutes during the landing.
“The Starliner team’s quick recovery and ability to achieve many mission objectives “ including safe deorbit, re-entry and landing “ is a testament to the people of Boeing who have dedicated years of their lives working toward the achievement of commercial human spaceflight,” said John Mulholland, vice president and program manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program.
Boeing will send the space capsule to Florida to facilitate data retrieval, refurbishment and analysis efforts in preparation for a manned flight test and first operational mission.
