The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received encouraging news regarding their planned return to Earth. Recently, ground tests on the spacecraft’s thrusters were successfully completed, which had been a prerequisite for organizing the return trip. The Starliner has been in orbit since early June.
An update released last week indicated, “Ground testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico is complete, and teams are now focusing on data analysis.” The tests aimed to assess thruster degradation to understand why some thrusters were deactivated during flight and evaluate the implications of reactivating them for the Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to certain thrusters malfunctioning. Issues with the helium tanks that power the thrusters led to delays in the Starliner launch. Officials announced last month that the spacecraft is equipped with 70 hours’ worth of helium, though only seven hours are required for its operations. Although they noted that the craft could theoretically return to Earth at this moment, they also mentioned that they are not fully prepared for that event.
As of the latest update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight could occur by the end of this month. However, the timeline has become less specific, stating that “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections, and continue 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.”