The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is one step closer to its return to Earth following the completion of ground tests on its thrusters, which have kept the spacecraft in orbit since early June. Boeing and NASA were awaiting these tests to begin solidifying plans for the Starliner’s homecoming.
An update disclosed that testing of the Starliner’s Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico has concluded, and the teams are now focused on analyzing the data gathered from these tests. The primary goal was to assess the degradation of the thrusters to better understand why some ceased functioning during flight and to evaluate the potential impacts of reinstating those thrusters for the remainder of the Crew Flight Test.
Officials clarified that “de-selected” refers to the thrusters that became non-operational. There were leaks in the helium tanks that control these thrusters during and before the Starliner’s launch, which caused several delays. At a recent press conference, it was noted that the spacecraft carries 70 hours of helium, despite only requiring seven for its operations. While it was mentioned that the Starliner could return to Earth immediately if necessary, officials indicated that they were not fully prepared for that eventuality.
NASA and Boeing had previously indicated that the Starliner could potentially return by the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less certain. The most recent statement suggests that Boeing and NASA engineers will disassemble and inspect the thrusters, as they work to finalize the flight rationale in preparation for readiness reviews for the Starliner’s eventual return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the near future.