Starliner failure is among NASA's most serious incidents

NASA has classified the failed manned flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to the ISS as one of the most serious incidents in its own history. NASA has now made this public, showing unusual self-criticism. Although the US corporation built the spacecraft, NASA accepted it and thus flew two people into space, summarized NASA chief Jared Isaacman. However, there were not only problems with the technology, but the recourse to two manufacturers also affected operational decisions, "especially during and immediately after the mission." Isaacman promises that these mistakes will be corrected.

On a par with the Challenger disaster

NASA officially classifies the incident as a Type A incident "due to the loss of spacecraft maneuverability during the crew's approach to the space station and the associated financial damages." This is the highest category available for such events, and it was also used to classify Apollo 1, as well as the Challenger and Columbia disasters. In all these accidents, people died; this was not the case in the Starliner test. "Although there were no injuries and the mission was brought back under control before docking, this highest classification confirms that there was the potential for a serious incident," NASA writes.

In June 2024, NASA astronaut Suni Williams and her colleague Barry Wilmore flew to the ISS with the Starliner. However, due to technical problems, the spacecraft could not fly them back and had to return to Earth empty. Instead, in September 2024, NASA sent only two astronauts to the ISS with a Crew Dragon from Boeing competitor SpaceX. Two seats on board remained free for Williams and Wilmore. Contrary to what is often claimed, the two were not stranded there but worked until their spacecraft's scheduled return flight. After taking office, US President Donald Trump made the incident a political issue and accused his predecessor of abandoning the two on the ISS.

Williams and Wilmore returned to Earth last March, a month earlier NASA had initiated an independent investigation. The US space agency has now published its final report, which is more than 300 pages long. In an interview last spring, Wilmore had already admitted that the problems were more massive than previously known. He stated that he could no longer control the spacecraft properly before the docking attempt. Although docking was successful, NASA did not rule out for a while, at least publicly, that the spacecraft would fly back to Earth with the two astronauts.

Investigations are ongoing

The investigation report states that "a complex interplay of hardware failures, qualification gaps, leadership errors, and cultural breakdowns" together created "an unacceptable risk to crew safety." These were "not compatible with NASA's safety standards for human spaceflight." The US space agency and Boeing are continuing to work to understand the technical causes of the problems and to solve the challenges together. It is unclear how the Starliner program will proceed.

(mho)