The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received promising news regarding their anticipated return to Earth. Recent tests on 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 finalize plans for the spacecraft’s journey 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 is complete, and teams are now turning their attention to data reviews.” The objective of these tests was to examine any degradation in the thrusters, which will help understand why some thrusters malfunctioned during flight and the potential effects of returning them to service on the Crew Flight Test.
When officials mentioned “de-selected,” they referred to thrusters that failed to operate properly. There were issues with helium tanks that control the thrusters leaking both before and during the Starliner’s launch, which caused various delays. Although officials confirmed that the spacecraft has a surplus of helium, with 70 hours of supply on board compared to the seven hours it needs, they stated that they were not yet prepared for its immediate return, despite earlier indications that it could come home if necessary.
NASA and Boeing previously suggested that a return flight might occur at the end of this month. However, the timeline has since become less certain: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections and work towards finalizing flight rationale in support of readiness reviews for Starliner’s nominal return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”