The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received promising news regarding their return home. Recent ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which has left it stranded in space since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA were waiting for these tests to finalize plans for the craft’s homecoming.
An update released late last week stated, “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 turning their attention to data reviews.” The goal of the tests was to assess thruster degradation, allowing the teams to understand why some thrusters malfunctioned during the flight and to evaluate the implications of potentially reactivating those thrusters for the Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to the thrusters that failed to operate. Before and during the Starliner’s launch, there were issues with helium tanks that control the thrusters, which led to several delays. Officials noted in a press conference last month that the vessel contains 70 hours’ worth of helium, although only seven are required. While they mentioned earlier this month that the Starliner could return at any time if necessary, they also indicated that they aren’t fully prepared for that eventuality just yet.
In a previous update, NASA and Boeing had suggested a possible return flight by the end of this month. However, the timeline has now become less specific. The statement continued, “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.”