The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received encouraging news regarding their return to Earth. Recent ground tests of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have left it orbiting since early June, have now been completed. Both Boeing and NASA were waiting for these tests to finalize plans for the Starliner’s homecoming.
According to a recent update, “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 observe how thrusters degrade, helping the teams understand the issues faced during the mission, including why some thrusters failed while in-flight and any potential effects of reactivating them.
The term “de-selected” refers to thrusters that ceased functioning. Issues arose with the helium tanks used to control the thrusters, which were found to be leaking both before and during the Starliner’s launch, resulting in several delays. Officials previously stated that although the ship has enough helium onboard for 70 hours of operation, it only requires seven for its journey. While they indicated last month that the Starliner could technically return home now, they maintain that they are not fully prepared for its return just yet.
NASA and Boeing had mentioned that a return flight might occur 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 continue to finalize 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.”