Boeing and NASA engineers have spent much of the last month conducting ground tests of Starliner’s Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters, which finally wrapped up last week, to get a better idea of ​​what happened during Starliner’s flight in early June. The team said they were able to replicate the thrust drop experienced by Starliner and are currently reviewing all the data, but the return date for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams is still uncertain, with NASA and Boeing saying only that they are expected to return “in the coming weeks.”
In tests at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, the team simulated conditions from Starliner’s recent flights, subjecting the control system’s thrusters to one of the most stressful launch-to-docking launch sequences, more than 1,000 pulses to simulate a CFT. [Crew Flight Test] Boeing said the tests simulated “high-temperature conditions.” They also tested undocking and deorbit burn scenarios that Starliner will experience on its return. After collecting terabytes of data from these tests, the team conducted more rigorous testing to “see if we could more closely simulate the high-temperature conditions that the thrusters will experience in flight,” said Dan Niedermeyer, the Boeing engineer in charge of thruster testing.
Engineers are currently “disassembling and inspecting the engine,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said Thursday. Following their analysis, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) A NASA Flight Test Readiness Review will be held to determine whether Starliner is in good enough condition to return astronauts, and NASA and Boeing said they would provide more information at a meeting in the coming days.
