The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received promising news regarding their return to Earth. Testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have been inoperative since early June, has recently wrapped up. Boeing and NASA were awaiting the completion of these tests to begin coordinating the Starliner’s journey back home.
According to a recent update, “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 reviews.” The main goal of this testing was to assess thruster degradation to understand why certain thrusters failed during flight and the potential consequences of reactivating them for the upcoming Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to thrusters that ceased functioning. Before and during the Starliner launch, the helium tanks that regulate the thrusters experienced leaks, causing multiple delays. At a press conference last month, officials noted that the spacecraft has 70 hours’ worth of helium available, well above the 7 hours required. Although they indicated earlier this month that the craft could return immediately if necessary, they are not yet prepared for that eventuality.
In the last update from NASA and Boeing, they suggested a return flight might occur at the end of this month. However, the timeline has become less defined: “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.”