/NASA / AUBREY GEMIGNANI
By Emre Kelly | Florida Today
Despite complications after launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Boeing’s Starliner capsule softly touched down in New Mexico early Sunday, wrapping up a dramatic flight that saw mission managers scrambling to save the unmanned spacecraft and its mission.
After executing a de-orbit burn just after 7:20 a.m. EST and reentering Earth’s atmosphere, Starliner’s three main parachutes deployed over the Army’s White Sands Missile Range. The 15-foot-wide capsule touched down at 7:58 a.m. with assistance from its inflatable airbags.
“Three parachutes, six airbags and a beautiful, soft landing,” said astronaut Mike Fincke, who joined astronauts Chris Ferguson and Nicole Mann in New Mexico on Sunday morning. “Can’t wait to try it out.”
The landing also marked the first time an American capsule touched down on land. Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft is historically the most well-known capsule for land-based mission endings.
