NASA report paints damning picture of Boeing mishap that stranded two astronauts in space

NASA on Thursday released the results of its investigation into Boeing’s failed 2024 flight to the International Space Station, which stranded two astronauts for months.

The findings were damning for both Boeing and NASA, describing inadequate testing, communication breakdowns and failures of leadership on both sides.

The report classifies the events as a “Type A accident” – NASA’s most severe designation, reserved for incidents resulting in significant financial loss or serious risk to the crew, including possible death. The loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven in 2003 received the same designation.

“We brought the crew back safely, but the path we took did not reflect the best of NASA,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at a press briefing Thursday, adding that the incident had created a “culture of distrust.” Isaacman, who was sworn in in December, was not leading the agency when the accident occurred.

The Starliner mission was expected to last about eight days and demonstrate that Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was ready to begin transporting NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. In what was considered a test flight, it was launched in June 2024 with two NASA astronauts on board: Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

However, shortly after launch, mission managers detected helium leaks in the capsule’s propulsion system, and then several thrusters malfunctioned as the spacecraft attempted to dock with the space station.

Weeks of testing followed; Ultimately, NASA chose to return the Starliner capsule to Earth without anyone on board. Wilmore and Williams remained on the International Space Station for more than nine months while waiting for the opportunity to return home aboard another spacecraft.

The scathing NASA report paints a dramatic picture of growing distrust between NASA and Boeing, “chaotic meeting schedules” as the mission unfolded, and a perception of managers on both sides “as being too tolerant of risk and dismissive of divergent opinions.”

The findings focus largely on Boeing’s shortcomings in building and testing the Starliner spacecraft, although Isaacman said NASA and its commercial crew program bear some responsibility.

“While Boeing was building Starliner, NASA took it on board and launched two astronauts into space,” he said in a statement, adding that the agency must “own our mistakes and ensure they don’t happen again.”

NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya went even further, saying the actions of NASA and Boeing had put Wilmore and Williams in danger.

“The agency did not meet their expectations,” Kshatriya said at the press conference. “And even if they don’t say it, we have to say it. We have to recognize that our responsibility is to them and to all the crews that are arriving and to the crews that we are about to fly.”

Boeing said in a statement: “We are grateful to NASA for its thorough investigation and the opportunity to contribute. In the 18 months since our test flight, Boeing has made substantial progress on corrective actions for the technical challenges we encountered and has driven significant cultural changes within the team that directly correspond to the report’s findings.”

To bring Williams and Wilmore home, NASA tapped SpaceX to fly them in one of its Dragon capsules, alongside astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who were completing a roughly six-month mission to the ISS. The group landed safely in March.

Wilmore retired from NASA in August after 25 years. He had accumulated 464 days in space. Williams announced his retirement last month, after 27 years and 608 days in space.

In late 2024, NASA officials said they were working with Boeing on modifications to the Starliner’s thrusters. With the release of the investigation report, NASA said corrective action would be taken.

Isaacman said Thursday that NASA “will not fly another crew on Starliner until the technical causes are understood and corrected.”

Boeing developed its Starliner spacecraft as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, an initiative launched in 2011 to support privately built space vehicles to fill the void left by NASA’s retired space shuttles. Rival company SpaceX developed its Crew Dragon spacecraft under the same program and has been conducting routine flights to and from the space station since 2020.

The NASA report is the latest in a series of high-profile setbacks for Boeing. Before the Starliner 2024 crash, its aviation arm came under fire after a panel exploded mid-flight on one of its 737 Max 9 planes. The 737 Max had already been grounded after two crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed all passengers.

Boeing’s Starliner program has been bumpy from the start. The Starliner capsule’s first uncrewed flight in 2019 was cut short after software issues prevented the vehicle from docking with the space station. Subsequent fuel valve problems caused several delays before Boeing demonstrated in 2022 that the Starliner could successfully dock with the ISS and return to Earth.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com