{"id":17803,"date":"2020-02-07T21:31:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T13:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/starliners-software-shortcomings-spark-nasa-safety-review-of-boeings-practices\/"},"modified":"2020-02-07T21:31:54","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T13:31:54","slug":"starliners-software-shortcomings-spark-nasa-safety-review-of-boeings-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/starliners-software-shortcomings-spark-nasa-safety-review-of-boeings-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Starliner\u2019s software shortcomings spark NASA safety review of Boeing\u2019s practices"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Boeing, NASA, and U.S. Army personnel put a protective cover over Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft shortly after its Dec. 22 landing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. (NASA Photo \/ Bill Ingalls)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An interim assessment of what went wrong during December\u2019s first uncrewed flight of Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner space taxi has turned up so many breakdowns that NASA is ordering a comprehensive safety review of the company\u2019s procedures.<\/p>\n

NASA and Boeing provided a status report on the Starliner post-flight reviews today, after concerns were raised publicly this week during a meeting of the space agency\u2019s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are 100% committed to transparency,\u201d NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told reporters during a teleconference.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s revelations add to concerns about engineering shortcomings in other lines of Boeing\u2019s business \u2014 including commercial airplanes, where a software issue and lapses in training procedures led to two catastrophic crashes and the worldwide grounding of 737 MAX jets; and military airplanes, where Boeing is having to retrofit Air Force KC-46 tankers to fix a design flaw.<\/p>\n

Douglas Loverro, NASA\u2019s associate administrator for human exploration and operations, alluded to those shortcomings as he discussed the decision he made with Bridenstine\u2019s support to order a wider safety review. \u201cThere were several factors that were in my mind when I asked the boss if we could do this,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd those were obviously press reports that we\u2019ve seen from other parts of Boeing, as well as what seemed to be characterized as these software issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boeing\u2019s Orbital Test Flight fell short of its main goal not long after its Dec. 20 launch when Starliner\u2019s rocket engine failed to light up on schedule. By the time engineers could fix the problem and upload the corrected software, it was too late to get the spacecraft on track for its planned rendezvous with the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

During their troubleshooting, engineers found that a program designed to keep track of the mission elapsed time \u2014 that is, how much time had elapsed since launch \u2014 had picked up a time stamp from the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 booster almost 11 hours too early and never corrected the time.<\/p>\n

That issue alone threw the schedule for sending three spacefliers on a follow-up mission to the station into limbo. But there was another software issue that didn\u2019t become public until this week\u2019s safety panel meeting.<\/p>\n