The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received encouraging news regarding their return home. Recent ground testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters has been completed, which had previously left it stationary in space since early June. Boeing and NASA had awaited these tests to begin planning for the spacecraft’s re-entry.
An update shared 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 goal of the tests was to monitor thruster degradation to understand why some thrusters were deactivated during the mission and to evaluate the potential impacts of reactivating them.
The term “de-selected” refers to the thrusters that failed to operate. Issues with helium tanks, which manage thruster control, had resulted in leaks both prior to and during the spacecraft’s launch, causing multiple delays. Officials mentioned last month that the spacecraft is equipped with 70 hours’ worth of helium, despite only needing seven. While they indicated that the craft could technically return to Earth immediately, they noted that they are not fully prepared for that eventuality.
In their last update, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight could occur by the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less certain: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections, and continue with finalizing flight rationale to support readiness reviews for Starliner’s return to Earth in the coming weeks, with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams aboard.”