The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received encouraging news regarding its return to Earth. Recently completed testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have been inoperable since early June, marks a significant milestone. Boeing and NASA had been waiting for these tests to finalize plans for the spacecraft’s homecoming.
“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 data reviews,” an update stated last week. The aim of the tests was to analyze thruster performance degradation to understand why certain thrusters were deactivated during flight and to assess any potential impact of reactivating them on the overall Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to those thrusters that ceased functioning. Issues arose before and during the Starliner launch due to leaking helium tanks that control the thrusters, causing several delays. In a press conference last month, officials noted that the spacecraft carries 70 hours’ worth of helium, significantly more than the seven hours required for its operations. Although they mentioned earlier this month that the Starliner could return if necessary, they stated that they are not quite ready for the spacecraft to come back yet.
In the latest update, NASA and Boeing officials indicated that a return flight could be anticipated by the end of this month. However, the timeline now appears less specific: “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.”