The team behind the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received encouraging news regarding the spacecraft’s return to Earth. Recent ground tests of the spacecraft’s thrusters were successfully completed, which had kept the Starliner in orbit since early June. Boeing and NASA had been awaiting the conclusion of these tests to start planning the craft’s journey back home.
An update from last week stated, “Ground testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico has been completed, and teams are now focused on reviewing the data.” The objective of the tests was to analyze thruster performance degradation, enabling the teams to understand why some thrusters were deactivated during flight and what effect reactivating them might have on the Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to certain thrusters that failed to function. During the launch, there were leaks in the helium tanks that control the thrusters, contributing to several delays. Officials noted previously that the spacecraft possesses 70 hours’ worth of helium onboard, although it requires only seven hours’ worth. While they indicated earlier this month that the Starliner could return immediately if necessary, they also emphasized that they are not yet ready for that.
In the latest update from NASA and Boeing, they mentioned that a return flight could potentially occur by the end of this month. However, the timeline has since become less certain, as they stated, “Boeing and NASA engineers will now proceed with the disassembly and inspection of the thrusters, and will continue to finalize the flight rationale in preparation for readiness reviews for Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”