Safety panel says NASA should have taken Starliner incident more seriously
“This particular anomaly deserves to be right up front and center for quite some time.”
TL;DR
- Boeing's Starliner spacecraft experienced significant thruster and helium leak problems on its first crewed flight to the ISS.
- Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were delayed for nine months due to safety concerns before returning on a SpaceX Dragon.
- A NASA safety panel criticized the agency for not formally declaring the Starliner's issues as an in-flight "mishap" or "high visibility close call."
- This lack of formal declaration led to confusion about risk ownership and decision-making, causing stress on the workforce.
- The safety panel recommended NASA clarify its criteria for declaring such incidents to improve future investigations and lessons learned.
- Starliner's next mission will be a cargo-only flight to the ISS.