4 Hours of the Most Strange and Unsettling Space Theories
Endless mysteries fill the universe. Between galaxies, huge empty spaces stretch, growing faster due to unknown forces. Our galaxy, sitting in the middle of one of these endless voids, seems placed there on purpose, making us question our true place in the cosmos. This space documentary explores these mysteries and the hidden forces shaping everything around us.
#sleepnova64 #space #universe #spacedocumentary #galaxy
Endless mysteries fill the universe. Between galaxies, huge empty spaces stretch, growing faster due to unknown forces. Our galaxy, sitting in the middle of one of these endless voids, seems placed there on purpose, making us question our true place in the cosmos. This space documentary explores these mysteries and the hidden forces shaping everything around us.
#sleepnova64 #space #universe #spacedocumentary #galaxy
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:01:00Good evening and welcome to NASA's Johnson Space Center and our coverage of Boeing's
00:01:13crew flight test.
00:01:15I'm Brandi Dean with NASA.
00:01:16And I'm Lauren Breninke with Boeing.
00:01:19Starliner safely departed the International Space Station and is on its way back to Earth.
00:01:24Starliner is making its return autonomously tonight without NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore
00:01:29and Sonny Williams after a decision to return without crew was made during a flight test
00:01:33readiness review last week.
00:01:35But the team here in Mission Control will be watching over Starliner over the course of
00:01:39the next hour and a half as the spacecraft fires its engines to drop back into Earth's atmosphere
00:01:43and make its way down for a landing in New Mexico at about 11 p.m. Central or midnight Eastern.
00:01:49The team here is led tonight by Flight Director Rick Henfling with weather assistance from
00:01:55Flight Director Mike Lammers.
00:01:57Henfling is just under seven minutes away from polling the flight controllers here in the room
00:02:01on their readiness for Starliner to perform its deorbit burn at Starliner's landing zone.
00:02:07Teams in Florida, Houston, and New Mexico have been monitoring the spacecraft and famously undocked
00:02:13from the International Space Station at 5.04 p.m. time while flying 260 miles over central China.
00:02:20NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams at the International Space Station in June
00:02:28as part of NASA's Boeing crew flight test, listed on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket
00:02:35from SpaceX Complex 31 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
00:02:39That was on June 5th.
00:02:40They arrived at the International Space Station on June 6th.
00:02:44During that June 6th rendezvous, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues
00:02:50with the Starliner's reaction control festers as the spacecraft approached the space station.
00:02:57Since then, engineering teams have completed a significant amount of work collecting and reviewing data,
00:03:02conducting flight and ground testing, hosting independent reviews with agency propulsion experts
00:03:08and developing various return contingency plans.
00:03:12Uncertainty and lack of expert concurrence did not meet the agency's safety
00:03:17and performance requirements for human space flight, thus prompting NASA's decision
00:03:21to return Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to Earth without the astronauts,
00:03:25butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams aboard.
00:03:28The uncrewed return allows NASA to continue gathering test data on Starliner
00:03:33during its upcoming flight home while also not accepting additional risk for the crew.
00:03:39Wilmore and Williams, meanwhile, have formally joined the Expedition 7172 crew
00:03:44and are going to remain at the space station conducting science experiments
00:03:47and helping with maintenance through February 2025.
00:03:50They're going to fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned
00:03:55to the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
00:03:58That is NASA astronauts Nick Haig and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbanov.
00:04:04On Thursday afternoon, the hatches were closed between Starliner
00:04:12and the International Space Station, and earlier today at 5.04 p.m. Central,
00:04:16the docking hooks released Starliner, allowing it to separate and begin moving away
00:04:20from the space station and into place for its journey home.
00:04:24You can see that video from earlier today playing here.
00:04:28We saw a beautiful display of Starliner's thrusters there.
00:04:54We saw a beautiful display of Starliner's thrusters there.
00:04:58All right.
00:05:27But Chulmar and Sonny Williams also had some words to say for the teams here on the ground
00:05:33as Starliner was making its way away from the space station.
00:05:38Station Houston, space to ground two for Starliner undock status.
00:05:45Go ahead, we're with you.
00:05:48Hey, Sonny, both the Starliner and ISS flight control teams have pulled go for undock at this time.
00:05:54The expected undock time is 22.04.
00:06:01Okay, copy, 22.04.
00:06:04Hey, you know, we're just looking at the flight control roster and, like, wow, it is the all-star team.
00:06:11You guys, it is the time to bring Calypso home.
00:06:15You have got this.
00:06:17We have your backs, and you've got this.
00:06:20Bring her back to Earth.
00:06:22Good luck.
00:06:24Sonny and Butch, this is Chloe.
00:06:26Just on behalf of the entire MO team and I know the other flight control teams around the building,
00:06:31we thank you for your endless support over the years.
00:06:34We've enjoyed every training event and every meeting.
00:06:37We remember every setback and every revelation with you.
00:06:40The teams on the ground have worked countless hours over the last few weeks, months,
00:06:45and for a group of us, years, to bring Calypso back, and we're ready to do that today.
00:06:49We wish you the best of luck in your increment.
00:06:52And, Sonny, I will make sure the right people have your coming-home song ready to play on Space Underground
00:06:57when it's time for you guys to come home.
00:06:59Good luck and thank you.
00:07:00Wonderful comments, Flight.
00:07:07We appreciate that, and we agree.
00:07:09Many years of great enjoyment swimming together, playing together, and being involved with each other's lives,
00:07:17and it's been special.
00:07:20Bring it out.
00:07:25Captain, thank you.
00:07:26Have a good evening.
00:07:26That, again, was a conversation recorded earlier today between astronauts Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore
00:07:36talking with the Starliner flight director at the time of undocking, Chloe Mehring.
00:07:42Since that undocking, when Starliner and the space station were flying 260 miles above central China,
00:07:47Starliner has been steadily increasing the distance between it and the space station,
00:07:51ensuring that it will be able to get into place to perform a 10.17 p.m. central de-orbit burn.
00:08:00Now in about 20 minutes.
00:08:03While it has been moving away, the flight controllers here on the ground took the opportunity
00:08:06to perform a few tests of Starliner's thrusters.
00:08:10During the test, the crew module's 12 small reaction control system thrusters,
00:08:15one of the jets, didn't fire when commanded.
00:08:17The reaction control system thrusters on the crew module are used to steer Starliner
00:08:21as it makes its way back down to Earth after the service module has been jettisoned.
00:08:27Because those 12 jets are divided into two redundant strings of six,
00:08:30Starliner only uses one string during normal operations.
00:08:34So although this means a slight loss of redundancy,
00:08:37it shouldn't keep Starliner from getting through reentry and landing as expected.
00:08:41Yeah, and Starliner has plenty of redundancy with this part of the prop system on the capsule,
00:08:47so no impact to the de-orbit burn or reentry, and it's not required for flight rolls.
00:08:52The team also tested 10 of the 28 reaction control system jets in the service module after undocking,
00:08:59and they all performed as expected.
00:09:01And here on the ground, the team just gave their go officially to Rick Henfling,
00:09:10today's flight director, meaning that tonight's landing of Starliner is on.
00:09:16That, again, is scheduled to happen, touchdown, at 11 p.m. Central Time or midnight Eastern Time.
00:10:31Once again, flight director Rick Henfling has gotten a go for Starliners' de-orbit burn
00:10:44from all of the flight controllers watching over the spacecraft's return tonight,
00:10:48and that, again, means we are officially on for Starliners' return to Earth
00:10:51at about 11 p.m. Central Time or midnight Eastern.
00:10:54The new work burn at 10.17 p.m. Central Time is now just 17 minutes away.
00:11:02That will be a 59-second firing of four of Starliners' orbital maneuvering and attitude control clusters on Starliners' service module.
00:11:10And joining us live from Starliners' landing zone at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico are our colleagues Leah Cheshire from NASA Public Affairs and Boeing's Josh Barrett.
00:11:23Leah and Josh, how is it going out there?
00:11:25Thanks, Brandy. It is going well out here.
00:11:29We are out here in White Sands.
00:11:31The weather right now is about 75 degrees and very light winds, approximately six miles per hour.
00:11:37This looks like potentially a picture from earlier today.
00:11:39It is quite dark out here at this point.
00:11:41We have a beautiful view of the stars, and we are lined up in the convoy getting ready to roll.
00:11:47That's right, Leah.
00:11:48So I've been out here for both of Starliners' previous landings.
00:11:52The first one was very cold.
00:11:54The second one was quite warm, and this one feels just about right.
00:11:58We are following along with two command vehicles.
00:12:02We've got the MLCC or the Mobile Landing Control Center.
00:12:06They're tied in down in Mission Control in Houston with the people that you're seeing on your screen right now.
00:12:12We also have the MDTV.
00:12:14That's the mobile data and tracking vehicle.
00:12:16And on top of that, it's got a suite of optics on top.
00:12:20There's an infrared camera and two visible cameras, one of them with a telescopic focus.
00:12:26So those will be the first things that we'll be seeing Starliner with here from the landing zone,
00:12:30and you should be seeing those on your screens as well.
00:12:33And Leah's got a few more things that she'll talk about that should get some cameras on Starliner as well.
00:12:39Yeah, especially the WB-57 NASA's plane.
00:12:42That took off just a few hours ago just as we were heading out here to the landing site.
00:12:47So we arrived here at about 6 p.m. local time, which is mountain time,
00:12:51and since then have been getting ready, lining up, doing communications checks between the various teams,
00:12:56and just getting ready to eventually drive out to the landing site once Starliner comes down.
00:13:00So it is a sea of white gypsum sand out here, and teams are continuing to just prepare as soon as we get into that deorbit burn.
00:13:11So they are actually in a huddle right now, talking through some of the next steps for tonight,
00:13:16getting ready to come and join us here in the convoy as we await to see the deorbit burn.
00:13:22So with that, right now, we are going to turn it back over to you, Brandi and Lauren.
00:13:29We are going to stick around, though, and cannot wait to see Starliner coming straight across the sky.
00:13:37Thanks so much, Leah and Josh.
00:13:38We are hoping to get some good views from where you guys are at later today.
00:13:41Now, once we make that final burn to get out of orbit today, it will take about 45 minutes for Starliner to reach its destination.
00:13:50Again, White Sand Space Harbor, New Mexico, where we just spoke with our colleagues from.
00:13:54Starliner is currently flying with its solar arrays pointed toward the sun,
00:13:59recharging the internal batteries to keep its systems powered through landing.
00:14:03The orbital maneuvering and attitude control thrusters, or what we call OMAX,
00:14:07will fire for about a minute to conduct the deorbit burn.
00:14:10That maneuver slows the spacecraft down from orbital velocities
00:14:14and allows it to start falling back to Earth in a head-down position.
00:14:18At the end of that deorbit burn, Starliner angles itself for reentry.
00:14:24The deorbit burn is just the first in a series of milestones we're going to be taking off tonight
00:14:29to give you the full rundown.
00:14:31Deorbit burn is scheduled for 10, 17 p.m. Central.
00:14:34As we said, we just got the go for that a few minutes ago.
00:14:37It's going to be followed by the separation of the crew module from the service module at 10, 20 p.m.,
00:14:43and the crew module will then continue on on its own.
00:14:47At 10, 45 p.m., Starliner will begin to fill the effects of the Earth's atmosphere again
00:14:53for the first time since its ascent in June.
00:14:55And a few minutes later, around 10, 47, the heat from Starliner's reentry will become so intense
00:15:00that plasma will begin to form around the spacecraft, causing a blackout in communications
00:15:05with Starliner for about four and a half minutes.
00:15:08Once Starliner clears that blackout period, things will begin to happen very quickly.
00:15:13Yeah, so then up next at 10, 56, when Starliner is about 4.3 miles above Earth,
00:15:20the spacecraft will be done with the forward heat shield that is at the top of the capsule
00:15:24that help to protect it through a reentry, and it will jettison it to make way for the parachutes
00:15:30that are stored underneath.
00:15:32And then almost immediately, those parachutes will begin to deploy,
00:15:36first with two smaller drogue parachutes that are meant to tick the edge off Starliner's speed.
00:15:41They open up in stages over the course of about 28 seconds.
00:15:46And then at 10, 57 p.m., when Starliner is about 6 miles up, the drogue parachutes are released
00:15:52and three main parachutes are deployed.
00:15:55They also open in stages over about 16 seconds, but they stay with the spacecraft all the way
00:16:01until touchdown.
00:16:02And again, we are expecting that touchdown to come at 11 p.m. Central.
00:16:07Just before the touchdown, however, at 10, 58 p.m., Starliner also sheds its base heat shield
00:16:13at the bottom of the capsule to make way for the inflation of six landing airbags hidden underneath it.
00:16:20And those will cushion the vehicle as it lands in New Mexico's desert.
00:16:29It's probably worth mentioning that we do not have video from Starliner.
00:16:33If you think back to June on its ascent and journey to the International Space Station,
00:16:38it's not able to send video down when it's not connected to the space station,
00:16:42so we won't be getting in-flight views from it.
00:16:44But we do have several cameras out at the landing site as well as some aircraft in the area
00:16:49that we are hoping to get some views from.
00:16:52But, of course, it is going to be pretty dark out in the desert at night,
00:16:55so they may be infrared or black-and-white views.
00:16:59But hopefully we'll get some good camera views to show you.
00:17:03And we're taking a live look now from the landing site,
00:17:13but the shot is quite dark at the moment.
00:17:17You can see just a few lights blinking there.
00:17:21Hopefully as we get closer to the ground, as Starliner gets closer down,
00:17:25we will have some better shots.
00:17:55We'll see you next time.
00:18:25We'll see you next time.
00:18:55We'll see you next time.
00:18:57We'll see you next time.
00:19:25We'll see you next time.
00:19:27And this is a shot from one of the ground cameras that we have on site.
00:19:31And this is actually a current view of the Cessna as it makes its way out to the landing site,
00:19:36White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
00:19:43And this is a shot from one of the ground cameras that we have on site.
00:19:46So, again, although it is dark there, we are hoping to see some good views.
00:19:52And in the last few hours, the teams there on the ground have been at the holding area loading up their vehicles, doing last-minute checks, making sure all the equipment is ready to go.
00:20:04And then shortly, they'll begin moving into place to watch Starliner make its final approach.
00:20:09And then once Starliner lands, teams will move closer in a very strategic way.
00:20:14They will first stop at about the 500-foot mark away from the spacecraft, and then they'll move in closer to the 150-foot mark while ground teams safe the vehicle.
00:20:25That first team on site with Starliner will be what we call the GOLD team.
00:20:31They start recovery operations by performing what's called a SNF test, where they use sensors to check for hydrazine, one of the propellants that Starliner uses.
00:20:40They'll be wearing protective gear known as hazmat suits to prevent exposure to hypergolic propellants.
00:20:46Hydrazine is used as a propellant, and if it turns into a vapor, it can be toxic.
00:20:50After the SNF test, they will notify the rest of the convoy when it's safe to approach,
00:20:54and then they're going to check the winds, make sure the entire landing and recovery team is staged uprange from the direction the wind is blowing for added protection.
00:21:04Now, everyone out there is part of a different color team, and they wear a vest with that color, so it's very obvious who does what.
00:21:12So the next step is the silver team, and their first job is to ground the spacecraft.
00:21:17Starliner will be powered down, but there could be some residual electricity.
00:21:21So before anyone can touch it, they will ground it and discharge it.
00:21:32Teams here on the ground are reporting that everything is getting into good configuration for the deorbit burn.
00:21:38That's now just about six and a half minutes away.
00:21:41Going on with what we were saying, we also will have the blue team that documents everything that's going on at the landing site.
00:21:52These are photographers from both Boeing and NASA who have situational awareness cameras.
00:21:57And, again, here's a current view of those teams all ready to deploy at landing.
00:22:03Yeah, that's the holding site that we were mentioning, and then, of course, you can see the mountains there in the background in this black-and-white view.
00:22:13Now, the green team hooks up the HVAC trailers to Starliner to get cooling on it, but their first job is to put up an environmental enclosure on the spacecraft.
00:22:22And that enclosure looks a lot like a big inflatable.
00:22:25It wraps around the vehicle to get cool air around it and make sure the critical systems don't overheat.
00:22:32Then the red team opens the hatch.
00:22:34That is mostly Boeing Fire and Rescue.
00:22:37They will back up the mobile access platform to Starliner's hatch, giving the team access.
00:22:43And Starliner will be bringing back more than 900 pounds of cargo, including a nitrogen-oxygen recharge system, or what we call NORS tank, that NASA will service and refill for future space station needs.
00:23:00The teams will unload that cargo before Starliner heads back to Florida.
00:23:03Just over five minutes to go now until tonight's 10, 17 p.m. central time, deorbit burn.
00:23:15The team here on the ground reports that Starliner has gotten into the right attitude, kind of the right way it's pointing for that burn.
00:23:23So everything is looking good.
00:23:25We're on track for landing at 11 p.m. central, midnight eastern.
00:23:30We're on track for landing at 11 p.m. central, midnight eastern.
00:24:00With just a couple minutes or four minutes left to go until the deorbit burn, we're going to check in once again with the landing team and Leah Cheshire and Josh Barrett.
00:24:21Thanks, Brandy.
00:24:26Yeah, we are out here just waiting in the convoy area.
00:24:30Now, most of the team is taking part in a safety briefing right now as we prepare to watch the deorbit burn and the reentry and then move in toward the spacecraft.
00:24:39Like you mentioned, it's really dark out here.
00:24:40Josh and I were just able to take in the really beautiful sight of the Milky Way.
00:24:45It's so dark.
00:24:46So once the capsule starts to reenter the Earth's atmosphere, we expect to have a pretty good view of the streak as that plasma builds up around the capsule itself.
00:24:57That's right.
00:24:58We should be seeing it come just over the southwest horizon, right through the saddle of kind of the mountains that are just overlooking the mountain range here.
00:25:07And remembering back to OFT1, kind of the view that we should be having here is that we'll hear the sonic booms as well after we see kind of that plasma envelope.
00:25:19And then pretty quickly afterward, it is pretty remarkable how quickly it does end up over our heads.
00:25:24We'll see the flashes from the mortars, which deploy those four heat shield parachutes, which take the four heat shield off.
00:25:34Then we start hearing those mortars, and then the parachutes start to deploy.
00:25:41And then it's kind of slow motion from there as it drifts down.
00:25:45And we're seeing a lot of movement as teams have just completed that safety briefing here.
00:25:49So they're now all walking to join us at the convoy.
00:25:52So it looks like we are just a few minutes away from the deorbit burn, and the show is really getting on the road soon.
00:25:57So with that, we're going to turn it back over to you in Houston.
00:26:02We are just over two minutes away from the deorbit burn.
00:26:07At this point, Starliner has moved well away from the International Space Station and quite a few kilometers ahead of it as well.
00:26:14We had a number of smaller burns to ensure that Starliner was at a safe distance away from the space station before it performs the deorbit burn that will bring it out of orbit and on its journey back to Earth.
00:26:25And Flight Director Rick Henfling and his team expect Starliner's orbital maneuvering attitude control thrusters, also called OMAX, to fire around 1017 central time, pushing the spacecraft out of its orbital flight path and onto its journey home.
00:26:43This deorbit burn will set us up for a touchdown time of about 11 p.m. central or 10 p.m. mountain daylight time out there in White Sands, New Mexico.
00:26:51Once it's there, control teams in Houston will begin powering off Starliners, radiators, and solar rays as the spacecraft now has enough power to get home, and sublimators will be taking over cooling.
00:27:04They use water to cool the cabin.
00:27:07Starliner is also, as we said, now in the correct attitude for performing the deorbit burn, and at this point, the service module and crew capsule are still attached to each other.
00:27:15Four of the service module's 12 aft-facing orbital maneuvering and attitude control engines are going to be powering the deorbit burn, allowing them to separate safely.
00:27:26And those engines are each 1,500-pound thrusters, meaning this burn will take about 6,000 pounds of thrust, slowing Starliner from its current orbital velocity, and bringing it back to Earth's atmosphere for a smooth landing.
00:27:39The small reaction control system, or RCS thrusters, assist here in holding Starliner in the correct attitude.
00:27:47During this test flight, our teams ran roughly a million computer model simulations, showing all the different thruster combinations possible for a safe return to Earth today.
00:27:58Just 20 seconds now until the burn starts.
00:28:00It'll last 59 seconds.
00:28:04And again, you'll be firing those orbital maneuvering and attitude control thrusters.
00:28:07Four orbital maneuvering and attitude control thrusters on Starliner's service module are now firing, slowing Starliner down as the capsule begins its journey back to Earth.
00:28:35This will take about 59 seconds to complete.
00:28:39We're hearing all thrusters firing well so far.
00:28:44You can see here the representation of those thrusters firing.
00:28:49Starliner's maintaining its attitude, and as those large orbital maneuvering thrusters are firing,
00:28:55smaller reaction control system thrusters are also working, keeping the spacecraft in the correct position for the burn.
00:29:00Still looking good.
00:29:18And we did see the Durbert burn cut off successfully.
00:29:39Teams here on the ground reporting a good burn.
00:29:41Starliner's now on its way to Whitesand Space Harbor in New Mexico, and a planned touchdown at about 11 p.m. Central, midnight Eastern Time.
00:30:11Next up on the to-do list for tonight is the separation of the service module.
00:30:21With the service module's job done, it'll be disposed of over the Pacific Ocean, leaving the uncrewed crew module to carry on alone.
00:30:29In addition to all its other jobs, the service module has spent the flight protecting the crew module's heat shield.
00:30:34Jettisoning it uncovers that critical piece of equipment, allowing it to shelter the spacecraft as it begins traveling back through the Earth's atmosphere.
00:30:41The crew module will then make its final attitude adjustments to make sure the heat shield is at exactly the right angle to provide that protection.
00:30:52And those fine-tuned adjustments are really just a strong capability of Starliner's guidance, navigation, and control system.
00:30:59In fact, on the two previous flights, Starliner made bullseye landings thanks to that system.
00:31:06Starliner's maneuvering into position for that jettison at this time.
00:31:10Starliner's maneuvering into position for that jettison at this time.
00:31:40Team here on the ground reporting that Starliner's in a good attitude, pointing the right direction
00:31:53for the service module separation.
00:31:58And the service module has just jettisoned, separated, and is now falling away.
00:32:03It will burn up during reentry over a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.
00:32:07And Starliner will continue on its path to New Mexico, where the landing and recovery
00:32:12team is waiting for touchdown.
00:32:14Starliner is now angling itself and its heat shield for reentry.
00:32:19Entry interface is coming up in just about 10 minutes.
00:32:21That's the hottest part of the reentry process, with Starliner's heat shield reaching about
00:32:263,000 degrees.
00:32:28To protect Starliner from those heat loads, the spacecraft has what's called an ablative
00:32:33heat shield.
00:32:34The outer surface of that shield heats up to a gas, which then carries the heat away
00:32:39from the crew module through convection.
00:32:43And our team calls this process a game of threes, because during entry interface, the heat shield
00:32:48will handle those temperatures of about 3,000 degrees, but it will convert that heat to about
00:32:53300 degrees with only three inches of ablator.
00:32:57And because of this protection during this hottest part of reentry, the inside of the spacecraft remains
00:33:02at about room temperature.
00:33:04When Starliner returned from its last two flights, the capsules landed with two black stripes
00:33:09up the sides, indicating the heat shield was ablated as intended.
00:33:13So we do expect to see that again today, and the team considers that a bit of a badge of honor.
00:33:21What is the first?
00:33:23So I will go with you.
00:33:28This is not even a terrible number, which is the best part of going out now.
00:33:34See what we do, but so far is against the team from the crew.
00:33:39What did you get there?
00:33:41Yeah, and so I will be able to see that again today.
00:33:42And so I will be able to see that as the guys can slide out.
00:33:45So a few years ago, that's having a lot of ability to see the hands of the equipment.
00:38:43That made way for the service module separation, and the next milestone we'll be watching for is an entry interface coming up around 1045, still about 10 minutes away.
00:39:44Staged near the landing site, ready to move in once Starliner touches down.
00:39:51We are taking off milestones as expected for that 11 p.m. Central, midnight Eastern, or 10 p.m. Mountain Time touchdown today in New Mexico.
00:40:08Again, Starliner performed its de-orbit burn about 12 minutes ago.
00:40:13The thrusters performed nominally, and the flight home is going smooth.
00:41:59I think I said earlier that we were 10 minutes away. That was a mistake. But about 14 minutes now, we'll be experiencing the atmosphere for the first time since Starliner launched. And since we do have a little time, we're going to check back in with the landing team.
00:42:15Leah and Josh, how are things going out there?
00:42:45So a lot of us are outside of the convoy right now and keeping our eyes on the skies.
00:42:49Yeah, that's right. We've got about just under probably three dozen vehicles all lined up in three rows just waiting to get that touchdown signal.
00:42:59Again, going through that convoy list that you guys went through already so well behind that gold team after Starliner is declared safe, the silver team moves in and they do the electrical grounding.
00:43:11They'll also stabilize the vehicle just in case the airbags start deflating. We make sure that the hatch has a good stable orientation for red team to come in.
00:43:22And they're the ones with the hatch orientation. And once the red team establishes hatch access, actually, the silver team has a fun job tonight in the dark.
00:43:31They're going to go start looking for the pieces that came off of Starliner, those heat shields, some of those lids from those those parachute mortars.
00:43:40And then after that, after red team has hatch access and opens up the hatch, NASA's ISS program folks are going to come in for the cargo inspection.
00:43:48So, again, we are expecting to start seeing Starliner coming across the horizon around the time that entry interface begins.
00:43:57But until then, just wanted to give you guys a hit from the landing site and the latest that we have going on here.
00:44:03So we'll toss it back over to you in Mission Control Houston.
00:44:08Thanks so much, Leanne and Josh. We are watching for that entry interface as well.
00:44:13We're now about 12 minutes away.
00:44:18Starliner continuing to make good progress following in that 1017 p.m. central time de-orbit burn.
00:44:31Again, we're looking at the landing and recovery team set up at the holding zone there at White Sands.
00:44:38Josh and Leah are embedded with that convoy, and they will make a very strategic move toward the spacecraft after touchdown,
00:44:46first stopping at about the 500-foot mark.
00:44:48And then they'll go to move forward to the 150-foot mark, and then once the vehicle is considered safe, they will move in.
00:45:18With the new orbit burn complete and the service module separated, the spacecraft's heat shield is now exposed and ready to begin experiencing the atmosphere again.
00:45:49The Starliner is going to make some final attitude adjustments that keep that heat shield pointing at exactly the right angle.
00:45:55And next up after that is entry interface.
00:45:58Again, just coming up in a few minutes.
00:46:00At 400,000 feet above Earth, Starliner faces temperatures of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit from the plasma created by air friction around the spacecraft.
00:46:10But Starliner can handle that heat with its heat shield, which is made of an ablative material designed to keep the inside of the spacecraft at about 70 degrees.
00:46:18A few minutes later, Starliner will experience an expected blackout in communications, and that will last about four and a half minutes.
00:46:27At 30,000 feet and just 11 minutes before landing, Starliner jettisons its forward heat shield, exposing the spacecraft's parachute system.
00:46:34Then two drogue chutes will deploy, increasing drag and significantly slowing down Starliner.
00:46:40Then three pilot parachutes will pull out the main chutes, allowing the spacecraft to continue its slow and steady descent for another 8,000 feet towards the landing zone.
00:46:49And once the main parachutes are fully inflated, Starliner's bucket handle releases.
00:46:55And what that does is it just basically levels out the spacecraft ahead of touchdown.
00:47:01And then the base heat shield that protected Starliner through reentry will separate at about 3,000 feet, uncovering the landing airbags.
00:47:09Those airbags, of course, will fill with nitrogen, allowing for Starliner to land softly and safely there in the sand.
00:47:17Less than 10 minutes to go now before we do get to that entry interface point,
00:47:22and now just 24 and a half minutes away from the landing at White Sands Space Harbor.
00:47:30Everything's pretty quiet in the room, which is a good sign.
00:47:32Things are continuing to go smoothly as Starliner begins making its way back to Earth.
00:47:47You're taking a look there at Flight Directors Rick Henfling on the left, speaking with Mike Lammers on the right.
00:48:06Rick is the Flight Director for this landing operation.
00:48:10Mike is Weather Flight Director.
00:48:13They are tag-teaming this operation.
00:48:16Team has been keeping a close eye on weather at the landing site, but everything looks pretty good for tonight's touchdown.
00:48:26Yeah, about 79 degrees Fahrenheit out there.
00:48:29They reported 10 miles visibility.
00:48:34The winds are within the limits, so we are looking good for a touchdown.
00:48:39Coming up right about 11 o'clock p.m. Central Time.
00:49:09Coming up right around the landing site.
00:49:38and tool entry interface and then that intense heating will start about two
00:49:43minutes after we do begin the interface. That'll last about four and a half
00:49:48minutes during which time we'll be in a blackout.
00:49:59Starliner is currently about a hundred and thirty miles, 149 miles rather, above
00:50:06the Pacific Ocean heading northward towards the western coast of the United
00:50:11States and it's touchdown in New Mexico.
00:50:36We're taking a look here at the landing trajectory there on the left of your screen. You can
00:50:51see that line that crosses over the Baja Peninsula and that is the track Starliner will take as
00:50:56it makes its way into New Mexico. As it gets closer to the ground, people living in the
00:51:02area might get a bright shot of Starliner coming back through the atmosphere and landing there
00:51:09in White Sands, New Mexico.
00:51:11You can also see there in the center of the screen the to-do list basically before we do
00:51:17get to landing. The service module separation is highlighted in green because that one's
00:51:22already taken place and next up is the entry interface about five minutes away from now.
00:51:32Flight controllers here in the room are reporting good attitude for that entry interface coming
00:51:45up again in just under five minutes.
00:52:17.
00:52:18.
00:52:19.
00:52:22.
00:52:24.
00:52:26.
00:52:27.
00:52:28.
00:52:29.
00:52:31.
00:52:32.
00:52:33.
00:55:34Less than a minute now until we begin entry interface.
00:55:57Again, about two minutes after entry interface starts, we'll begin seeing the heating really
00:56:02get intense and we'll go into a four and a half minute blackout.
00:56:32The team here in the ground reporting entry interface has begun, they're seeing good range.
00:57:00We're seeing another view from the landing site or the teams getting ready to move out
00:57:17to the landing site here.
00:57:19A little better idea from this view of exactly how dark it is out there with all the lights
00:57:24of the vehicle shining.
00:57:25A minute and a half until we move into the blackout period for Starliner.
00:57:34And 14 and a half minutes until we land in White Sands, New Mexico.
00:57:38The Starliner enters Earth's atmosphere at 17 times the speed of sound, which could create
00:57:48a sonic boom for folks living in the area.
00:57:51It will then be slowed down by parachutes to a speed very similar to what you might experience
00:57:56while going down an elevator inside a high-rise building.
00:57:59The vehicle then comes to a safe, comfortable stop at landing.
00:58:02The vehicle then leads into the bay area of mechanScreen.
00:58:12The vehicle then comes to a 6-meter new vehicle then starts right around one of your
00:58:29levels, and the electrician�� swan.
00:58:3030 seconds now until the blackout period begin due to the compression of friction and friction
00:58:44of the air. The molecules generate a very hot plasma that causes the red-orange glow
00:58:49you often see appear in post-flight imagery on many spacecraft. Although we won't get
00:58:53to see that tonight, it will happen. It causes an expected communication dropout. This one
00:58:57will last four and a half minutes as the vehicle goes through a time when the plasma interferes
00:59:04with a satellite signal. We expect that to blank out to end around 10.52 p.m. Central.
00:59:12This is also the time that I mentioned earlier where a Starliner in the past two flights has
00:59:18gotten that black mark along the sides of it, and that just really proves to our team that
00:59:26the ablative heat shield or the ablative material around Starliner is doing its job, and the
00:59:34heat shield is pushing that plasma away.
00:59:36It's blackout time. Again, it lasts about four and a half minutes. We've got about three
00:59:53and a half left of it. After that, the milestones we'll be watching for include a forward heat
01:00:00shield jettison at 10.56 p.m. when Starliner is about 4.3 miles above the Earth. Very soon
01:00:08after that, almost immediately, drogue chutes deploy. Those give a little bit of an initial
01:00:15slowdown to the vehicle before the really large main parachutes deploy. That happens when the
01:00:22Starliner is about two and a half miles above the Earth.
01:01:59This is a live view from the International Space Station where we're able to get a view
01:02:04of Starliner's track as it comes in.
01:02:07We are now less than 10 minutes away from landing at the White Sands Space Harbor, scheduled
01:02:12for 11 p.m. Central.
01:02:14We're also getting reports that the WB-57 is also able to see Starliner now as it begins
01:02:20coming in for its landing.
01:02:24We've still got just about a minute left to go before Starliner comes out of its blackout
01:02:30period.
01:02:37And this is a view from the WB-57, one of NASA's aircraft that is at the landing site.
01:02:44Has been staged and ready to pick up the view of Starliner as it comes in.
01:02:51And this is a view from the WB-57, one of NASA's aircraft that is at the landing site.
01:03:07It has been staged and ready to pick up the view of Starliner as it comes in, and that
01:03:14is what we are seeing now.
01:03:15And they're filming this video from about 16,000 feet.
01:03:20The WB-57 should continue to give us a view until the drogue parachutes deploy, and then
01:03:28we hope to pick it up with the Cessna that is also in the area.
01:03:41And flight controllers here in the room are reporting that we are out of that blackout
01:03:45period, and everything is looking good.
01:03:47Starliner remaining nominal as she returns to Earth.
01:03:56Again this is a view from the WB-57.
01:04:09Starliner showing a beautiful streak across the sky as she returns to White Sands, New
01:04:14Mexico.
01:04:15We are about three minutes away from the forward heat shield jettison.
01:04:34That's the next milestone we are looking for.
01:04:36Starliner is currently about 27 miles above the Earth, and the team at White Sands reporting
01:04:42that they have seen it.
01:04:43We've got a tally hole from them reported remotely.
01:04:47That means they are seeing Starliner from the ground there in New Mexico.
01:05:01This view is coming from the Cessna that's also in the area picking up Starliner now for a
01:05:08its lower altitude, about 6,000 feet above, whereas the WB-57 is about 16,000 feet up.
01:05:15This view is coming from the Cessna that's also in the area picking up Starliner now from its
01:05:31lower altitude, about 6,000 feet above, whereas the WB-57 is about 16,000 feet up.
01:05:37We are now just 6 minutes and 22 seconds away from landing.
01:05:45We should also just be a couple of minutes away from the forward heat shield jettison, which
01:05:49will bring on the drogue parachute deploy, followed by the main parachutes.
01:05:54And the strobe lights on Starliner are now on.
01:06:22Starliner is now over the landing site, and that strobe light will help the teams actually
01:06:27track Starliner on the ground because it is very dark out there.
01:06:36Now about 12 miles above the landing site and just five minutes away from landing.
01:07:11Watching now for the forward heat shield jettison, that should be coming up, again making way for the parachute deployment.
01:07:33Alright, and that, action your senior nurse screen. Forward heat shield and drugs out.
01:07:41Really interesting view of this, coming down from the WB-57, see those two drogue parachutes now deployed.
01:07:50They slow the vehicle down initially until it gets to a safe speed for the enormous main parachutes to follow.
01:08:00About four minutes to go until touchdown.
01:08:12Now back to a view from the Cessna aircraft in the vicinity of the landing site.
01:08:22Again, this is a view from a little lower than the WB-57 we were seeing.
01:08:33The next thing we're going to see here is the three main parachutes come out.
01:08:38And everything will happen pretty quickly from that point on.
01:08:41After those mains are out, we'll see the bottom heat shield that has been protecting Starliner through its journey through the atmosphere come off.
01:08:57That makes way for the landing airbags to deploy.
01:09:00And there's the main parachutes there on your screen.
01:09:07We see three out, currently reefing.
01:09:10And the teams at the landing recovery teams report that they heard the booms as those came out.
01:09:28Three good mains fully open there.
01:09:30You can see Starliner in a slight tilt, so we're going to see the rotation handle move here shortly and it will level out Starliner.
01:09:41But three good parachutes looking great.
01:09:45Just a little over two minutes until the expected landing time and we heard the rotational handle has been released.
01:09:52So you can see that tilt evened out.
01:09:55Next up is the back heat shield jettison.
01:10:03And there it goes.
01:10:05That again makes way for the airbag inflation.
01:10:08Nice to see that.
01:10:09You can see the airbags deploying there on your screen.
01:10:12Those airbags are filled with nitrogen as they guide Starliner safely back to the desert floor.
01:10:25Just a beautiful sight as Starliner makes its way to the sands of New Mexico.
01:10:42And flight controllers confirming six good airbags.
01:10:48This view is still coming to us from the Cessna.
01:10:53We've got about just about a minute left to go until the expected touchdown.
01:10:58We'll be watching for that time for you.
01:11:45You're just about 15 seconds away from expected touchdown.
01:11:52You're seeing the ground there in your screen as we get closer?
01:12:45One of the changes required with no crew on board is that the team here in the flight control room will be the ones to command the parachute.
01:13:15The parachute is to be cut away so that the wind doesn't pull the capsule along, but that's no problem for them.
01:13:24So now with Starliner down, they can begin working on some of the post-landing to-do items.
01:13:33Again, we saw Starliner touchdown at 11.01 p.m. Central Time.
01:13:38That's one minute after midnight Eastern Time or 10.01 p.m. Central at the landing site in New Mexico.
01:13:45This is a view from the Cessna still watching the drones slowly make their own way down.
01:14:04Those, of course, are the drogue parachutes that preceded the main parachutes, first slowing Starliner down before the large parachutes opened.
01:14:15Really just a flawless and beautiful descent of Starliner today.
01:14:26I even heard some cheers and clapping in the background.
01:14:59This, again, is the drogue parachutes still making their way to the ground after Starliner has touched down with its main parachutes.
01:15:24Touchdown came at 11.01 p.m. Central Time.
01:15:27The team here in Mission Control will be working through some post-landing steps now.
01:15:54View here of Starliner at its landing site in White Sands at Space Harbor.
01:16:06Landing and recovery teams will soon begin making its way out to them to begin recovering the spacecraft.
01:16:16The team here in Mission Control is pulling right now to see if everybody is ready to power off the vehicle.
01:16:22That, again, is a step that the flight control team has taken over with the lack of crew on board.
01:16:35Once the spacecraft is powered down, they will be transitioning control of the spacecraft over to the landing and recovery team.
01:16:41And it's a little difficult to see in this shot, but there is a strobe light on Starliner that will help the teams follow it out there.
01:16:52And the recovery team is on the move, but I think Leah Cheshire and Josh Barrett, our colleagues out there, may be able to give us one last update.
01:17:16Leah and Josh, can you hear us?
01:17:18Great landing of Calypso.
01:17:20I don't think there could be a better birthday for us.
01:17:23Obviously, we did have really a great show.
01:17:25We were able to see the cameras that you were watching, too, from the WB-57, from the Cessna, from the International Space Station.
01:17:32Leah, can I interrupt you?
01:17:34Yes.
01:17:35It's been a really amazing day.
01:17:36We were hearing a bit from space to ground there, but I think they've concluded, unfortunately.
01:17:43We'll see if we can get a recording of that for folks listening at home.
01:17:47But, Leah, go ahead with your update.
01:17:51Yeah, sorry about that.
01:17:52Couldn't hear that one here.
01:17:53But here comes the MCCH here.
01:17:57Rick just wanted to offer that he's got one more hour here.
01:18:05It's his birthday here.
01:18:07Yeah, and that's what counts.
01:18:12Yeah, it was a good landing.
01:18:14It's pretty awesome.
01:18:20You guys are the best.
01:18:23You are the best.
01:18:27Sonny Williams there, offering a slightly early happy birthday to Flight Director Rick Himfling.
01:18:33He will be celebrating his birthday on September 7th, but technically in Houston.
01:18:39We're still a little less than an hour away from that.
01:18:42They are, of course, already on September 7th at the International Space Station.
01:18:48But, Leah, if you were still with us, we'll still take that update if you can give it to us.
01:18:52Yeah, so as I was saying, we got to see the capsule and the plasma trail coming up over the mountains from the southwest.
01:18:59And we were all still standing outside the convoy to watch that happen.
01:19:03But the most unexpected part was when I could hear the main parachutes being deployed.
01:19:09It was very fade, just a little bit of a rumble.
01:19:11But that strobe light really helped us identify Starliner as it was descending, and it would reflect a little bit up onto those parachutes.
01:19:18So we actually had a decent view as it was coming down under those chutes.
01:19:22And now we are actually on the drive out, and we can see the strobe light.
01:19:26It's giving us a great direction as we head toward the capsule.
01:19:30Yeah, that's right.
01:19:30We are actually making our way down the former Space Shuttle runway, literally driving right down the middle of it.
01:19:39Starliner is a little bit towards the southern end, so we see that strobe kind of in the distance there.
01:19:46But we will make our way to the 500-foot mark where Gold Team will move in and begin their assessments.
01:19:53And then once they declare that operations, proximity operations can begin, the recovery ops will really get underway.
01:20:03And with that, I think we were going to toss it back to you, Brandy and Lauren.
01:20:08If you don't hear from us again tonight, I just wanted to say thanks for letting us be part of the broadcast
01:20:13and give you the perspective of all the hardworking ground teams, both NASA and Boeing, out here at White Sands in New Mexico.
01:20:18So with that, sending it back over to Mission Control Houston.
01:20:23Thanks so much, Josh and Leah.
01:20:26It's great to see Starliner home, and I envy you the up-close view.
01:20:30But we appreciate your updates.
01:20:32I do, too.
01:20:34Starliner has returned safely.
01:20:39Well done to the entire team for completing the mission with a successful undocking, deorbit, and landing.
01:20:45Starliner has once again proven herself a safe ride to and from space.
01:20:49On behalf of the entire Boeing team, welcome home, Calypso.
01:20:55And with that, we will also wrap up our coverage tonight.
01:20:59We would like for you to stay tuned for our 1230 a.m. post-landing news conference.
01:21:06That is 1230 a.m. central time, so about an hour and a half, a little less than an hour and a half from now,
01:21:11when we'll be giving you final thoughts on the activities of the night.
01:21:17But Starliner is home.
01:21:18Again, the landing came at 11.01 p.m. central time.
01:21:22And with that, we will sign off.
01:21:24Thank you so much for following along with us.
01:21:26This is Mission Control Houston.
01:21:27This is Mission Control Houston.
01:21:57This is Mission Control Houston.