The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received positive news regarding its return to Earth. Recent ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have left it in orbit since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA had been awaiting these results to start planning for the vessel’s journey back home.
An update released last week stated, “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 focusing on reviewing the data.” The purpose of the testing was to assess thruster performance, particularly to better understand why certain thrusters malfunctioned during flight and to evaluate the implications of potentially reactivating those thrusters on the remainder of the Crew Flight Test.
Officials indicated that some thrusters had been rendered inoperative, a situation caused by leaking helium tanks that control the thrusters, contributing to several launch delays. During a press conference last month, it was noted that the Starliner had 70 hours’ worth of helium onboard, although only seven hours are needed for operations. While officials previously mentioned that the spacecraft could return immediately if necessary, they also indicated they were not fully prepared for that eventuality.
In the latest update, NASA and Boeing stated that a return flight could potentially occur at the end of this month. However, the timeline has since become less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will continue with thruster disassembly and inspections, and will move forward with finalizing flight rationale in support of readiness reviews for Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the upcoming weeks.”