The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew received encouraging news regarding their spacecraft’s return to Earth. Recent ground tests of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have kept it in orbit since early June, have been successfully completed. Boeing and NASA had been waiting for these tests to finish before planning the return journey.
An update from last week 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 data reviews.” The aim of the tests was to examine thruster degradation, which could help determine why some thrusters ceased functioning during flight and what effects reactivating them might have on the Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to the thrusters that stopped functioning. The helium tanks controlling the thrusters were found to be leaking both before and during the Starliner launch, causing several delays. Officials mentioned last month that the spacecraft has enough helium onboard for 70 hours of operation, despite only needing seven hours. Although they indicated earlier this month that the spacecraft could return immediately if necessary, they noted that they were not fully prepared for its arrival.
In their latest update, NASA and Boeing suggested a return flight might occur at the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections, and will continue to finalize 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.”