The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received promising news regarding their return to Earth. Recent ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have kept it in orbit since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA were awaiting the conclusion of these tests to start planning the spacecraft’s journey back.
An update mentioned that the testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico is finished, and teams are now focusing on analyzing the data. The goal of the test was to examine thruster degradation to better understand why some thrusters were inoperable during the flight and assess the potential implications of reintegrating those thrusters into service for the remaining Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to certain thrusters that malfunctioned. Prior to and during the Starliner’s launch, there were leaks in the helium tanks that control the thrusters, which resulted in several delays. Officials stated last month that the spacecraft has enough helium for 70 hours, although it only requires seven hours for its current needs. While they indicated earlier this month that the Starliner could return immediately if necessary, they also noted that they are not ready for that contingency.
In the latest briefing, NASA and Boeing mentioned that a return flight might occur at the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less precise: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections and continue finalizing flight rationale in preparation for readiness reviews for Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the upcoming weeks.”