The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received some positive news regarding their return to Earth. The spacecraft has been stranded in space since early June, but recent testing of its thrusters has been completed. Boeing and NASA had been awaiting these tests to plan the vessel’s return.
An update from last week noted, “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 objective of the tests was to observe any degradation in the thrusters to understand the reasons behind the in-flight deselection of some thrusters and assess the implications of possibly returning those thrusters to service.
The term “de-selected” refers to some thrusters that malfunctioned during the mission. The helium tanks controlling the thrusters were found to be leaking before and during the Starliner’s launch, causing several delays. Officials indicated last month that the spacecraft has 70 hours’ worth of helium onboard, whereas only seven hours are needed. Although they previously stated that the craft could return immediately if necessary, preparations are still underway.
The latest update suggests that a return flight could potentially happen by the end of this month, but the timeline has since become less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections, and move forward with 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.”