Boeing Starliner Flight’s Flaws Show ‘Fundamental Problem,’ NASA Says

Boeing will now review 1 million lines of Starliner software code. Officials from the company declined to speculate how long that might take. Neither the agency nor the company would set a schedule for when the Starliner capsule would be ready to carry astronauts to space.

But Mr. Bridenstine said that NASA needs more than one way for getting astronauts to the International Space Station. The agency has also hired SpaceX, which has developed a different spacecraft, Crew Dragon, to transport astronauts.

The additional software problem, first publicly reported Thursday during a meeting of NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, is the second major flaw known to have marred Starliner’s trip in December, the first orbital flight of the spacecraft. During its trip to orbit, the spacecraft set its clock to the wrong time, causing it to deplete its propellant. A planned docking at the space station was called off, and the mission was cut short, to two days instead of eight.

Because of the clock problem, Boeing engineers started searching to see if there were other flaws in the software. On the evening before landing, they found one.

“It is our belief we wouldn’t have found it if we hadn’t gone looking,” said Jim Chilton, senior vice president of the space and launch division at Boeing, which is distinct from its segment that manufactures jet planes.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/science/boeing-starliner-nasa.html?emc=rss&partner=rss