The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received promising news regarding their return to Earth. Recent ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have kept it in orbit since early June, has concluded. Both Boeing and NASA were waiting for these tests to finalize plans for the spacecraft’s homecoming.
An update shared last week noted, “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 primary goal of the tests was to evaluate the degradation of the thrusters to understand why some were not operational during flight and to determine if reactivating them could affect the overall mission of the Crew Flight Test.
Some thrusters were marked as “de-selected,” meaning they ceased to function. Prior to and during the launch, there were leaks in the helium tanks that control the thrusters, which caused several delays. Officials indicated that the Starliner has a reserve of 70 hours of helium, despite only needing seven. Although they mentioned earlier this month that the spacecraft could return at any moment if necessary, they clarified that additional preparations are still required before that can happen.
The latest update from NASA and Boeing indicated that a return flight might occur by the end of this month, but the timeline has since become less specific. “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections and continue 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,” the statement read.