The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received promising news regarding its anticipated return to Earth. Recent ground tests of the spacecraft’s thrusters were successfully completed after the Starliner has remained in space since early June. Boeing and NASA were waiting for these tests to finalize their plans for the spacecraft’s homecoming.
According to an update provided last week, the ground tests for a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico are finished, and teams are now examining the data. The main goal of these tests was to assess the degradation of the thrusters, which would help explain why some thrusters were inactive during the flight and evaluate the potential effects of restarting them on the Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to certain thrusters that malfunctioned. Prior to and during the Starliner launch, the helium tanks controlling the thrusters experienced leaks, causing multiple delays. At a press conference last month, officials noted that the craft has 70 hours’ worth of helium on board, although it only requires seven. Although they mentioned earlier this month that the Starliner could return immediately if necessary, they indicated that they were not fully prepared for its return just yet.
In the latest update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight might occur at the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less clear: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections, and will continue to finalize the flight rationale to support the readiness reviews for Starliner’s expected return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the upcoming weeks.”