The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received encouraging news regarding their return to Earth. Recent ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have left it stranded in space since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA had postponed planning the vessel’s homeward journey until these tests were finalized.
According to an update released last week, the ground test of the Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico is now complete. Teams are currently focused on reviewing the data gathered from the tests. The main goal of the tests was to examine any thruster degradation, which would help the teams understand why certain thrusters were deactivated during flight and assess the potential effects of returning them to service on the overall Crew Flight Test operation.
The term “de-selected” refers to thrusters that malfunctioned. Prior to and during the launch of Starliner, leaks were discovered in the helium tanks that control the thrusters, resulting in multiple delays. During a press conference last month, officials noted that the spacecraft is equipped with 70 hours of helium, despite only needing seven. While they mentioned earlier this month that the craft could return to Earth immediately if necessary, they indicated that they are not fully prepared for that to happen just yet.
In the last update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight could occur by the end of this month. However, the timeline has since been adjusted: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections, and will continue to finalize flight rationale in support of readiness reviews for Starliner’s scheduled return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”