The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew received encouraging news regarding their return to Earth. Recent testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which has left it in orbit since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA were waiting for these tests to plan the Starliner’s return home.
According to an update from last week, “Ground testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico is complete, and teams are now turning their attention to data reviews.” The main goal of the tests was to analyze any degradation in the thrusters, helping the teams understand why certain thrusters were deselected during flight and assess any potential impacts of reactivating them on the overall Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to thrusters that malfunctioned. Issues with tanks holding helium for thruster control were identified before and during the Starliner launch, causing several delays. Officials mentioned in a press conference last month that the spacecraft has 70 hours’ worth of helium onboard, despite only needing seven. While they stated earlier this month that the Starliner could return immediately if necessary, they acknowledged they are not yet fully prepared for that.
The latest update from NASA and Boeing indicated that a return flight could have been scheduled for the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less defined: “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.”