The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received positive news regarding its return to Earth. Recent earthbound testing of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have kept it in orbit since early June, has been completed. Boeing and NASA were waiting for these tests to plan the craft’s return trip.
An update last week confirmed the completion of ground testing for a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. The focus now shifts to reviewing the data from these tests. The objective was to analyze thruster performance to understand why certain thrusters were non-operational during flight and to assess the implications of reactivating them for the Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to thrusters that ceased functioning during the mission. Issues with helium tanks that control the thrusters led to significant delays prior to and during the launch. Officials mentioned that while the Starliner holds 70 hours’ worth of helium, it only requires seven for its operations. They indicated that the spacecraft could return at any moment if necessary, but emphasized that they are not fully prepared for that.
The previous update from NASA and Boeing suggested a possible return flight at the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less definitive: “Boeing and NASA engineers will continue with disassembly and inspection of the thrusters, and finalize the flight rationale to support readiness reviews for Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”