The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received promising news regarding its return to Earth. Recent tests conducted on the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have kept it in orbit since early June, have now been concluded. Boeing and NASA were awaiting these results to start planning the spacecraft’s homeward journey.
An update shared last week stated, “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 analysis.” The aim of these tests was to examine the degradation of the thrusters to better understand the issues that led to some of them being deactivated during flight and to evaluate the implications of potentially reactivating them for the Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to some thrusters that ceased functioning. Problems arose from leaks in the helium tanks that control the thrusters before and during the Starliner’s launch, resulting in several delays. Last month, officials noted that the spacecraft has 70 hours’ worth of helium on board, far exceeding the seven hours it needs. While they mentioned earlier this month that the Starliner could return immediately if necessary, they also indicated that they were not fully prepared for it to land yet.
In their latest update, NASA and Boeing suggested that the spacecraft could potentially return at the end of this month. However, the timeline has now become less specific, stating, “Boeing and NASA engineers will continue with thruster disassembly and inspections, and will proceed to finalize flight protocols for readiness reviews in support of Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the upcoming weeks.”