The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received positive news regarding its return to Earth. Recently, ground tests of the spacecraft’s thrusters were completed, which had left it stranded in space since early June. Boeing and NASA had been awaiting the completion of these tests to start planning for the spacecraft’s return journey.
An update last week stated, “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 aim of these tests was to assess any thruster degradation and understand the reasons some thrusters were deactivated during flight, as well as the potential impacts of reactivating them on the overall Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to certain thrusters that ceased functioning. Helium tanks that regulate the thrusters experienced leaks before and during the Starliner launch, which led to multiple postponements. Officials indicated last month that the spacecraft contains 70 hours’ worth of helium, despite only needing seven for its operations. While officials mentioned earlier this month that the Starliner could potentially return now if necessary, they also acknowledged that preparations are still underway.
In their last update, NASA and Boeing anticipated a possible 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 move forward 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.”