"Those plans call for Starliner to undock from the station at 6:04 p.m. Eastern Sept. 6. It will move away from the station and then perform a deorbit burn, setting up a landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 12:03 a.m. Eastern Sept. 7, or six hours after undocking.   Source

That landing time is 10:03 PM MDT on 6 September 2024.  From Heavens-Above.com the closest ISS pass to that time is shown below:



This pass is traveling southwest to northeast.  People in southern Baja up to some area around White Sands have an opportunity to see the fiery portion of the re-entry.

Below is the NASA visibility map for re-entry.   I would be outside at least ten (15 is better) minutes before you expect to see it.  This allows your eyes to adapt to the night sky and gives you time to verify your look angles.

If you are in the El Paso, TX/White Sands area, look to the southwest.  I would not expect to see it before about 9:51 PM EDT but I would start looking 3-5 minutes before that.  Just make a slow sweep along the horizon to the southwest plus or minus about 45 degrees.  Also visually sweep above the horizon 20-30 degrees.  Increase how high you go around 9:51 to 9:52 PM.   It should be easy to find without binocular and after 30 seconds or so once you see it.    It will be coming close to straight on so not as obvious as when I saw Crew-7 return since I was looking at it from a distance off the central track.  Around 9:53 - 9:54 PM you (El Paso) will need to move more to west-southwest to westerly and 20-40 degrees above the horizon.  Ideally you will have found it by now.

If you are in southeast Arizona, you will scan along the horizon and up in elevation to the south-southwest around 9:51 PM moving to the south around 9:52 PM and southeast at 9:53 PM.

Use the color coded bands to get an estimate of the elevation (degrees above the horizon) it will be at its highest.  Note that outside the 10-20 degree band you may still see it ...just closer to the horizon.





Friday, Sept. 6 (The following times are EDT)

5:45 p.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.

6:04 p.m. – Undocking

10:50 p.m. – Coverage resumes for deorbit burn, entry, and landing on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.

11:17 PM EDT:  Deorbit burn

Saturday, Sept. 7

12:03 a.m. – Targeted landing

1:30 a.m. – Post-landing news conference with the following participants:

   Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington
   Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida
   Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station, NASA Johnson
   John Shannon, vice president, Boeing Exploration Systems
   Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Boeing Commercial Crew Program

Coverage of the post-landing news conference will stream live on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.

Undocking webcast:




Landing webcast:

I hope it makes it back in one piece.

Will be interesting to see the reaction either way.

I wonder if they pick the landing site and direction to minimize the risk to people on the ground if it comes down in lots of pieces.

That’s probably a good guess.

I thought they said it had to be piloted to undock. What did I miss?

If that happens (loss of control after separation from ISS) then all bets are off.
The deorbit burn should work but if steering is lost they will probably keep the trunk attached and let it tumble out of control and burn up the works over the Pacific Ocean.

And be done with it.

That's been a thing for a while now (20 years?)  but WS is a preferred landing location for this ship regardless.

Hopefully they stream the entire trip back using the thruster graphics they had on OFT2.

To be fair, White Sands has been an (alternate) NASA landing site for some time (with STS-3 actually landing, and STS-116 prepped to land there), aside from other space uses.  It does help that it is otherwise remote, but with good military facilities nearby.

I can confirm incompetent management.

This is like Stayliner Thread #8?

If steering is lost, then they won't have any control over where it comes down.

It's all up to the Indian programmers once the thing undocks.

Oh thanks, we would have had no idea otherwise!

It will probably come back fine.

I was at Edwards in the convoy command vehicle waiting for the de-orbit burn call on that one. We were told to report on site with all our shit ready for a WS de-orbit burn call out.

We weren't thrilled about possible Christmas in WS to say the least.

I was under the impression the software for remote control was not loaded

That implies that they manage to control the damn StarLeaker at all.

If that were the case they would just bring it in over California. Communists are not people.

Sounds like they were able to upload it to the ISS and install the automation code.

Shortly after the launch someone posted one of the emergency alternate landing sites in southern AZ, and
it was pretty clear from the choice that yes, they're picking a path that has very little habitation. I thought that
spot was a bizarre choice but now knowing they're aiming for White Sands it makes perfect sense, especially
if they were coming up short.

Don't they usually do a slow deorbit, like 24 hours of moving away from the station before kicking off reentry?

They're not going to decelerate away from the station with a maximum retrograde burn at the appointed time.

Kharn

I went to White Sands to watch a shuttle landing.
Had to wait an extra day as it was delayed due to a hellacious windstorm.

be a heck of an oppertunity to demonstrate AI...

Mine is the original.  The others are dupes.   I usually create a re-entry viewing thread that is separate otherwise people won't be aware of it if embedded in the main thread.

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft have re-entered by flying from the northwest to Florida across the center of the USA as well as from the southwest over Florida.

Perhaps but I would not risk my life on it.   Would you?

Put that Boeing Nappi guy and the CEO on it.

can every taxpayer who paid for this Edsel of a space craft get one swing of a sledgehammer at it?

Boeing needs to pay back all the money they got from us for this debacle.

I absolutely would, but then I'd ride on a Shuttle knowing the issues.  If you offer me an opportunity to go to space, I'd ride up in a Progress.

I added the timeline in the first post.   Six hours from undocking to landing.

Neat, I'm outside Carlsbad on a rig. I may have to stay up later than normal.

Guess it can be a lot faster when you only need to hit a military post twice the size of Rhode Island rather than a runway glide slope.

Kharn

I found the NASA visibility map for the OFT-2 return and added that to the first post.

Attached File


Thanks to @Procat

We are 2 hours east of White Sands. Should be able to see the re-enrty. We've seen launches from Vandenberg from here.

Chokey found the re-entry visibility map so I will add that to the first post and remove the other maps that were there.

Do we think it will make it? Or crash and burn.

OP, can you please add a poll that includes “Earth-shattering kaboom” as an option?

How much trajectory control do they really have when departing ISS which is in a specific orbit?

Too bad I won't be able to see it from here.

Depends on how much fuel they have.

This reminds me I downloaded but never installed KSP 2.0, I need install it.

It will make it back.  The big question is if a human was inside it would they survive?  If a thruster doesn't fire and it starts to come in sideways and burns a hole in it the capsule can still return but anyone inside would be dead.

Gonna film this with a pvs 14, op. Might drive up to the ST Augustine pass. Wondering where the best spot might be.

You have to subscribe using the app. It's extra each month. Total scam. But you get remote start and Apple Space Ship Play.

Where are you at on like a million helium ballons and a lawn chair?

Thats a pretty good idea. I can't make it to St Augustine in time. I'm going ride up to the Emory pass observation site, anyone in Grant county want to go?

A lot of stuff has come down in pieces over white sands so they have practice.

That's been done - his altitude control was a pellet gun.

With a parachute, O2 mask and a a semi-auto CO2 rifle, I might be interested.  How much helium have you got, and have you tried shopping that to Boeing?  They've had some leaks.

ETA:  Very high altitude airships have been proposed for low cost launches, as you're just using helium to get out of much of the atmosphere.

I still remember the view from Guadalupe Mountains.  Nice little park up there.

Talked to some of the guys after the shuttle landing at WS.  Cleanup was a royal PITA and took several extra months because of the talc like sand in every nook and cranny of the shuttle.

ETA:  Amarillo was once a designated shuttle landing site.  They could almost taxi right up to the circus tents.

A fiery but mostly peaceful re entry

You might get a better view than me. I know it’s going to cross the Organs into White Sands for its final descent. I may be in the wrong spot to see anything at all.