The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received promising news regarding their return to Earth. Testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have kept it in orbit since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA were awaiting the results of these tests to plan the spacecraft’s return.
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 objective of the testing was to examine the degradation of the thrusters to gain insight into why some thrusters were inactivated during flight and the potential effects of reactivating them on the overall Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to the thrusters that ceased to function. Prior to and during the Starliner’s launch, the helium tanks that power the thrusters were leaking, resulting in several delays. Officials noted last month that the spacecraft has 70 hours of helium on board, although it only requires seven hours for operation. While they indicated that the craft could return to Earth immediately if necessary, they also mentioned that they are not quite prepared for its return yet.
In their latest update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight might occur at the end of this month. However, the timeline has since become less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections, and continue with finalizing flight rationale to support readiness reviews for Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”