The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received encouraging news regarding the spacecraft’s return trip to Earth. Recent ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have been inactive since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA were awaiting these test results before they could proceed with the planning for the vehicle’s homecoming.
An update last week confirmed the completion of the ground testing for a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, stating, “Teams are now turning their attention to data reviews.” The objective of the tests was to analyze the degradation of the thrusters to better understand why some were non-operational during the flight and to assess the potential impacts of bringing those thrusters back online for the Crew Flight Test.
Some thrusters were deemed “de-selected,” meaning they malfunctioned. Issues arose with the helium tanks that control the thrusters, which caused leaks before and during the launch, leading to multiple delays. Officials noted that while the spacecraft has 70 hours of helium on board, it only requires seven for its operation. They mentioned earlier this month that although the ship could technically return now, they are not fully prepared for that scenario.
In their latest update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight could occur by the end of this month, but the timeline is now less definite. “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.”