The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received positive news regarding their return to Earth. Recent ground tests of the spacecraft’s thrusters were successfully completed, paving the way for Boeing and NASA to initiate plans for the spacecraft’s journey back home. The Starliner has been in space since early June due to prior issues.
An update 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 reviews.” The purpose of these tests was to analyze thruster degradation, providing insights into which thrusters experienced failures during flight and assessing the potential impacts of reintegrating any of these thrusters into the mission.
Some thrusters had been de-selected, meaning they ceased functioning during the mission. This was attributed to leaking helium tanks prior to and during the Starliner’s launch, causing multiple delays. Officials explained last month that the spacecraft carries 70 hours’ worth of helium despite only requiring seven hours for its operations. Although they mentioned that the craft could technically return at any point, it was made clear that preparations were not yet finalized for its return.
In their latest update, NASA and Boeing indicated that a return flight might be scheduled for the end of this month. However, the timeline has now become less definitive: “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.”