After a maiden flight that was shortened by an off-nominal orbit insertion, Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner conducted its first landing from orbit. Touchdown at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico occurred at 5:58 AM MST (12:58 UTC) on December 22.<\/p>\n
The spacecraft approached from the southwest, overflying the Pacific Ocean and Baja California.<\/p>\n
If, at any point leading up to the deorbit burn, NASA or Boeing teams felt the need to reevaluate landing options, there was a backup landing opportunity at 1:48 PM MST (20:48 UTC). Had this backup attempt is utilized, the spacecraft would have approached from the northwest. However, the first opportunity was taken.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s landing attempt came six days earlier than originally intended. The Orbital Flight Test (OFT) mission to demonstrate end-to-end performance of the uncrewed spacecraft was cut short by an error with Starliner\u2019s Mission Elapsed Timer (MET).<\/p>\n
During launch, Starliner sets its MET based on data retrieved from its Atlas V launch vehicle. During Friday\u2019s nominal launch, Starliner retrieved the wrong data, resulting in an incorrectly set MET.<\/p>\n
After nominally separating from the rocket, Starliner\u2019s MET indicated that the spacecraft was at a point in the mission profile different than its actual location. This disagreement resulted in the orbit insertion (OI) burn, which moves Starliner into a stable orbit, not occurring on time.<\/p>\n