NASA Adds More Safety Fixes for Boeing's Crew Capsule 8 July 2020, by Marcia Dunn

NASA adds more safety fixes for Boeing's crew capsule 8 July 2020, by Marcia Dunn

and could not reach the International Space Station. Ground controllers barely had time to solve another software problem that could have destroyed the capsule at flight's end.

Boeing will repeat the flight later this year before attempting to launch astronauts next spring.

SpaceX, meanwhile, successfully launched two NASA astronauts to the space station in May. They will return home next month aboard their Dragon capsule, splashing down off the Florida coast.

In hindsight, NASA did not focus enough on the software portion of the Boeing flight, Stich said. The In this Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019 photo made available by space agency instead probably concentrated more NASA, Boeing, NASA, and U.S. Army personnel work on SpaceX because of its non-traditional approach around the Boeing Starliner spacecraft shortly after it to software development, he acknowledged. landed in White Sands, N.M. On Tuesday, July 7, 2020, NASA officials said they have identified 80 corrective Boeing had plenty of experience working on large actions for safety, mostly involving software, that must NASA projects like the space shuttle and space be implemented before the Starliner capsule launches station, and so NASA was "a little more used to the again. The previous count was 61. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Boeing process," Stich said. AP)

"It's often natural for a human being to spend more time on that newer approach, and maybe we didn't NASA has added more safety fixes for Boeing's quite take the time we needed with the more space capsule before it can fly astronauts following traditional approach," he added. a pair of close calls during last year's test flight. NASA has since added more of its own staff to In closing out the seven-month investigation, monitor software development at both Boeing and NASA officials said Tuesday they have now SpaceX. identified 80 corrective actions, mostly involving software and testing, that must be done before the NASA is also borrowing SpaceX's "robust" Starliner capsule launches again. The previous approach to software, which involves going back to count was 61. the designers following testing for feedback, said Kathy Lueders, NASA's new human spaceflight "It's a bit of a wake-up call for NASA and its chief who until a month ago managed commercial contractors" across the board, said Steve Stich, crew. She wants to see more of that type of manager of NASA's commercial crew program. approach across other NASA programs.

During its space debut last December with no one Boeing will need several more months to complete on board, the Starliner ended up in the wrong orbit its software upgrades and tests before repeating the first test flight, officials said. SpaceX plans to

1 / 2

launch a second crew later this summer or early fall.

"This has been a big learning experience for us," Lueders said.

© 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. APA citation: NASA adds more safety fixes for Boeing's crew capsule (2020, July 8) retrieved 30 September 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2020-07-nasa-safety-boeing-crew-capsule.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

2 / 2