Boeing had 49 gaps in testing for space capsule

ORLANDO, Fla. — An independent review of the decisions that led to a failed test of Boeing’s Starliner astronaut capsule found systematic and widespread missteps in the legacy company’s testing procedures and software development, prompting more NASA involvement in the agency’s commercial human spaceflight program.

NASA has declared Boeing’s mission a “high visibility close call” mishap, a low-level but fairly rare procedural decision that kicks off a process to ensure that the same problems are not prevalent elsewhere in the organization.

The review is now calling for 61 corrective actions to be undertaken by both Boeing and NASA in the coming months to stopper numerous shortfalls that led to an illfated mission for Starliner when it took off from the Space Coast in December.

At the conclusion of the process, which is expected to take several months, NASA and Boeing will announce whether they will require Boeing to repeat the December test, or whether the company will be cleared to proceed with a test mission carrying astronauts onboard.

Starliner’s uncrewed demonstration mission late last year experienced three major issues midflight. Starliner first failed to perform a critical maneuver because the timer in the spacecraft was running 11 hours ahead, causing it to go into the wrong orbit. When teams tried to correct the problem manually, communications issues potentially caused by cell phone towers in the area blocked signals from reaching Starliner. Then, as teams hunted for other issues, they discovered another code error that could have caused the capsule to collide with its service module.

That problem was resolved before Starliner landed back in the New Mexico desert on Dec. 22, finishing an abbreviated mission that failed to see the capsule dock with the International Space Station.

“I think we can all agree that this was a close call,” said Douglas Loverro, associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA. “We could have lost a spacecraft twice during this mission.”

The reasons for the issues are grounded in software problems that went undetected by both Boeing and NASA.