Starliner Capsule Back in Florida

January 21, 2020 – The Boeing Starliner capsule that recently successfully completed an uncrewed Orbital Test Flight has returned to Kennedy Space Center for post-flight processing.  The capsule become the first American spacecraft to land on land after launching on December 20, 2019 and touching down at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico December 22.

Boeing Starliner is the first commercial spacecraft to be built at Kennedy Space Center. Image: NASA

According to the company, “The only “passengers” on board the capsule were a spacesuit-clad, instrumented dummy (or anthropometric test device) named “Rosie the Rocketeer” after the World War II icon Rosie the Riveter and Astronaut Snoopy, a plush doll that served as the vehicle’s “zero-g indicator.”

Boeing engineers and technicians are analyzing data from its Orbital Flight Test (OFT), the unpiloted flight launched December 20, in preparation for transporting astronauts to the International Space Station.

Watch a video of the mission here.