The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received promising news regarding their return to Earth. Recent ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have prevented it from returning since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA were waiting for these tests to plan the Starliner’s journey back home.
An update from last week indicated that ground testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico has concluded, and teams are now focusing on analyzing the data. The objective of the test was to observe any degradation of the thrusters to better understand why some were deactivated during the flight and to determine the potential effects of reintroducing those thrusters into service.
The term “de-selected” refers to some thrusters that became inoperable. Issues with helium tanks, which control the thrusters, were discovered prior to and during the Starliner’s launch, causing several delays. Officials reported last month that although the spacecraft has 70 hours’ worth of helium, it only requires seven for its operations. While they mentioned earlier this month that the craft could return immediately if necessary, they stated it is not yet prepared for re-entry.
In their last update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight could occur at the end of this month. However, the timeline has shifted slightly, with a more indefinite window now: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections and continue to finalize the flight rationale in preparation for readiness reviews for Starliner’s scheduled return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”