KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — A new report commissioned by NASA says the crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft could have ended with a disaster comparable to the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.
The Boeing test flight resulted in astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams being stranded on the International Space Station for nearly 10 months.
The report categorized the test flight as a potential “Type A” mishap.
NASA defines this designation as a mission that results in significant financial loss, severe equipment damage, or loss of life.
According to the findings, mission leadership prioritized schedules over safety protocols throughout the Starliner program.
This prioritization of the timeline allegedly contributed to the risks identified during the crewed flight.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman recently addressed the report’s findings.
Isaacman said the decisions made regarding the Starliner mission were inconsistent with the agency’s safety culture.
The findings described the report as scathing in its assessment of how these decisions were reached.
The mission was originally intended for a much shorter duration before technical issues arose.
Starliner eventually returned to Earth without its crew, and a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft was used to safely return astronauts Wilmore and Williams.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.