Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft completed the first land touchdown of a human-rated capsule in U.S. history Sunday at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, wrapping up the company's uncrewed Orbital Flight Test as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is seen resting on its airbags after it landed in White Sands, New Mexico, at 7:58 a.m. EST on Sunday, December 22, 2019. The landing completed an abbreviated Orbital Flight Test for the company that still met several mission objectives for NASA's Commercial Crew program. The Starliner spacecraft launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 6:36 a.m. Friday, December 20 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Inspecting the capsule, astronaut Suni Williams, who will command the next mission using the spacecraft, announced the crew had named it Calypso, after the ship captained by Jacque Cousteau in his ocean exploration.