NASA is working to successfully return the astronauts using the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. The rescue plan is already in place. But there are serious concerns that a malfunction in the spacecraft’s engines could cause it to collide with the International Space Station (ISS). According to Business Insider, the concerns came after reports that faulty engines could cause the spacecraft to lose control immediately after undocking from the ISS, potentially leading to an accident with catastrophic consequences.
This information was confirmed by sources in Ars Technica. However, NASA representatives refrained from commenting on this issue. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell of Harvard explained a possible scenario: if a certain number of engines are lost during undocking from the ISS, the spacecraft could indeed begin to drift uncontrollably and eventually crash into the station.
While the specific issue of collision risk hasn’t been commented on, NASA continues to deal with problems with Starliner. The SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which was postponed from August 18 to September 24, is another example of technical difficulties.
Against the background of possibly extending the stay of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams on the ISS until 2025, NASA’s oversight body has released a critical report on the Space Launch System, another Boeing project. It was discovered that the original budget was exceeded by $700 million.
McDowell stressed that this situation caused discontent both at NASA and Boeing, where the Starliner program was not only a financial disaster, but also damaged the company’s reputation.
Obviously, Boeing is in serious trouble and this has negative implications for both the company and its space projects. McDowell noted that once SLS Block 1B development was completed, the project would probably not be used often. This development raises the question of how much bad news one company can take.
Earlier we reported on how NASA criticized Boeing for the terrible quality of the lunar rocket.
