The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner received positive news regarding their return to Earth. Recently, ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters was completed, which had kept it in space since early June. Boeing and NASA were awaiting the results of these tests before planning the vessel’s homecoming.
An update indicated that the testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico has concluded, and teams are now focused on reviewing the data. The tests aimed to identify thruster degradation to understand the reason behind the in-flight deselection of certain thrusters and assess the implications of reinstating them for the Crew Flight Test.
“Deselected” refers to some thrusters that failed to operate. Prior to and during the launch, the helium tanks used to control the thrusters were found to be leaking, causing several delays. Last month, officials disclosed that the spacecraft has 70 hours of helium onboard, but only requires seven for its operational needs. While they mentioned earlier this month that the Starliner could return at any time if necessary, they noted that they are not fully prepared for that to occur yet.
In the latest update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight could happen at the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less specific, stating that Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with the disassembly and inspection of the thrusters while finalizing flight rationale in preparation for readiness reviews for the Starliner’s anticipated return to Earth, with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams expected to be onboard in the coming weeks.