Boeing's Troubled Starliner Returns Home Without Crew [Updated]

Update 9/7/24: The Starliner capsule has returned safely to Earth. It touched down at 12:01 a.m. EDT Sept. 7 (10:01 p.m. local MDT time) in the New Mexico desert. Our original story continues below.

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft has had its ups and downs—mostly downs. After NASA recently decided it did not trust the leaky Starliner to return its astronauts to Earth, Boeing has been making plans to bring the vehicle home on autopilot. With its software now updated for the lonely journey, Starliner will undock from the International Space Station (ISS) this afternoon, and you can watch it live.

Starliner arrived at the International Space Station on June 6 for what was supposed to be an eight-day test run for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. However, the duo will spend eight months on the orbiting outpost instead before returning to Earth ...