The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew received encouraging news regarding their return to Earth. Recent tests of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have been stranded in space since early June, have been completed. Boeing and NASA were awaiting these results to start organizing the vessel’s homeward journey.
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 objective of the tests was to analyze thruster degradation to better understand why some thrusters were deactivated during flight and the potential effects of reactivating them for the remainder of the Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to thrusters that ceased functioning. Issues with helium tanks controlling the thrusters caused leaks prior to and during the Starliner launch, resulting in several delays. During a press conference last month, officials noted that the spacecraft has 70 hours’ worth of helium onboard, although it only requires seven. While they mentioned that the Starliner could return immediately if necessary, they indicated that they are not fully prepared for its return just yet.
In the latest update from NASA and Boeing, a return flight was tentatively scheduled for the end of this month. However, the timeline has become less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will continue with thruster disassembly and inspections and proceed with finalizing flight rationale in support of readiness reviews for Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the upcoming weeks.”