The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received encouraging news regarding their return to Earth. Recent testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have kept it in orbit since early June, has been concluded. Boeing and NASA awaited these tests to start organizing the vehicle’s homeward journey.
Last week’s update 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 focusing on reviewing the data.” The objective of the tests was to examine thruster degradation to better understand why some thrusters were not operational during flight and to determine the implications of potentially reintegrating them into service before the Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to those thrusters that malfunctioned. Before and during the Starliner launch, the helium tanks that regulate the thrusters experienced leaks, resulting in several delays. During a press conference last month, officials noted that although the spacecraft has 70 hours’ worth of helium onboard, it only requires seven for its operations. They indicated earlier this month that the craft could return to Earth if necessary, but they are not yet prepared for that eventuality.
At the last briefing, NASA and Boeing mentioned that a return flight could be scheduled for the end of this month. However, the timeline has since become less precise: “Boeing and NASA engineers will continue with the disassembly and inspection of the thrusters and finalize the flight rationale in preparation for readiness reviews aimed at the Starliner’s eventual return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the upcoming weeks.”