The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew received positive news regarding its return to Earth. Recent ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which has been stranded in space since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA were waiting for these tests to finalize plans for the spacecraft’s return journey.
An update indicated that the ground 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 observe thruster degradation to better understand why some thrusters were deactivated during flight and to assess the implications of potentially reactivating them.
The term “de-selected” refers to thrusters that stopped functioning. Issues arose due to leaking helium tanks that control the thrusters, leading to several delays prior to and during the Starliner’s launch. At a press conference last month, officials mentioned that the spacecraft has 70 hours’ worth of helium onboard, significantly more than the seven hours it requires. While they stated earlier this month that the vehicle could return to Earth if necessary, they also indicated they are not yet prepared for that return.
In their latest update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight could happen at the end of the month. However, the timeline has now become less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections, and continue to finalize the flight rationale in support of readiness reviews for Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”