Starliner Crew Prepares for Earth Return Amid Thruster Breakthroughs

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received promising news regarding their return to Earth. Ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have been inactive since early June, has been successfully completed. Boeing and NASA were awaiting these tests to start planning the vessel’s homecoming.

An update from late last week confirmed, “Ground testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico is complete, and teams are now turning their attention to data reviews.” The tests aimed to assess thruster performance and understand issues that caused some thrusters to be deactivated during flight, as well as to evaluate the implications of potentially reactivating those thrusters for the upcoming Crew Flight Test.

The term “de-selected” refers to thrusters that ceased functioning. Issues arose due to leaks in helium tanks that control the thrusters, resulting in multiple delays before and during the Starliner’s launch. At a recent press conference, it was revealed that the spacecraft carries 70 hours’ worth of helium despite only requiring seven. Although it was previously indicated that the craft could return immediately if necessary, officials stated that full preparation for the return is still underway.

The latest communications from NASA and Boeing suggest the possibility of a return flight by the end of this month. However, the timeline has now become less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections and advance with finalizing flight rationale in support of readiness reviews for Starliner’s nominal return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”

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