The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received some positive news regarding their return to Earth. Recent ground tests of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have kept it in orbit since early June, were successfully completed. Boeing and NASA had been waiting for these tests to finalize plans for the spacecraft’s return journey.
An update released last week revealed that the testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico is now complete, and teams are beginning data analysis. The purpose of the test was to evaluate thruster performance and understand the reasons behind the in-flight failure of some thrusters, as well as to assess the potential impact of returning those thrusters to operation on the upcoming Crew Flight Test.
Officials indicated that “de-selected” thrusters refer to those that ceased functioning during operation. This issue stemmed from helium tanks, which control the thrusters, leaking prior to and during the launch, resulting in several delays. At a press conference last month, it was noted that the Starliner contains 70 hours’ worth of helium, while only seven hours are necessary for its operations. Even though officials mentioned earlier this month that the spacecraft could return to Earth at any time, they indicated that they are not yet fully prepared for that scenario.
In the latest update, NASA and Boeing stated that a return flight could potentially occur by the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections and move forward with finalizing flight rationale to support readiness reviews for Starliner’s eventual return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”