The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner received some encouraging news regarding their return to Earth. Recently, ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters was completed, a significant step as it has been stranded in orbit since early June. Boeing and NASA were awaiting the completion of these tests before planning the spacecraft’s journey back home.
According to a statement released last week, “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 focusing on reviewing the data.” The purpose of the tests was to assess thruster degradation to better understand why some thrusters were not operational during flight and to evaluate the potential impacts of reactivating them on the overall mission.
Some thrusters were “de-selected,” meaning they ceased to function. Issues arose with the helium tanks responsible for controlling the thrusters when leaks occurred before and during the launch, resulting in multiple delays. Officials noted that the spacecraft has 70 hours of helium on board, whereas only seven hours are needed. Although they indicated earlier this month that the Starliner could return immediately if necessary, they also mentioned they are not fully prepared for that to happen just yet.
In their latest update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight could happen at the end of this month. However, the timeline has become less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections and will finalize the flight rationale to support readiness reviews for Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the upcoming weeks.”