'We almost did have a really terrible day.' NASA now says Boeing's 1st Starliner astronaut flight wa

[Timber Rattler]

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/we-almost-did-have-a-really-terrible-day-nasa-now-says-boeings-1st-starliner-astronaut-flight-was-a-type-a-mishap

The first astronaut mission of Boeing's Starliner taxi was a bumpier ride than NASA wanted to admit at the time.

The agency announced today (Feb. 19) that it has reclassified Starliner's Crew Flight Test (CFT) as a "Type A mishap" — the most serious kind, in the same category as the space shuttle Challenger and Columbia tragedies.

"This was a really challenging event in our recent history," NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said during a press conference today, which highlighted the findings of a report into CFT and its issues. "We almost did have a really terrible day."

(snip)

Starliner landed safely, but its departure was not entirely smooth. The spacecraft experienced "an unexpected crew module propulsion failure," Isaacman said, and lacked "fault tolerance" in its thrusters throughout the reentry to Earth's atmosphere.

Williams and Wilmore, meanwhile, stayed aboard the ISS. They came home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in March 2025, having spent about nine months in space instead of the originally planned 10 days. Both have since retired from the agency.

EXCERPT

The actual report: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nasa-report-with-redactions-021926.pdf

The comments on the original article are good.  I really like this one:

Jared Isaacman needs to order an immediate stand down and have every NASA engineer read Richard Feynman’s Appendix F to the Challenger Commission Report. Feynman warned about this!

Feynman's Appendix F: https://www.nasa.gov/history/rogersrep/v2appf.htm

Flashback:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raMmRKGkGD4

[Timber Rattler]

The bottom line is that five of the capsule's five thrusters catastrophically failed. Turns out that the fuel chemicals and oxidizers were incompatible with the seals, causing them to fail and leak. Consequently, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were almost stranded in space and killed.

[DB]

So, it was a lot worse than reported...

[Timber Rattler]

So, it was a lot worse than reported...

Yes indeed!  NASA didn't have it under control at all.

[BobfromWB]

Yes indeed!  NASA didn't have it under control at all.

Not only did they not have under control then, but NASA is willing to bring it back when its "fixed" for another try with people in it. Idiocy & desperation for second vendor.

[Elderberry]

NASA on Starliner: Too much freedom caused the failure!

Behind the Black 2/19/2026

NASA today released its final investigation report on the causes behind the Starliner thruster issues during that capsule’s only manned mission in ISS, issues that almost prevented the spacecraft from docking successfully and could have left it manned and out-of-control while still in orbit.

You can read the report here [pdf]. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman made it clear in his own statement that the Starliner incident was far more serious than originally let on.

    “To undertake missions that change the world, we must be transparent about both our successes and our shortcomings. We have to own our mistakes and ensure they never happen again. Beyond technical issues, it is clear that NASA permitted overarching programmatic objectives of having two providers capable of transporting astronauts to-and-from orbit, influence engineering and operational decisions, especially during and immediately after the mission. We are correcting those mistakes. Today, we are formally declaring a Type A mishap and ensuring leadership accountability so situations like this never reoccur. We look forward to working with Boeing as both organizations implement corrective actions and return Starliner to flight only when ready.”

A Type A mishap is one in which a spacecraft could become entirely uncontrollable, leading to its loss and the death of all on board. Though Starliner was NOT lost, for a short while as it hung close to ISS that result was definitely possible. Its thrusters were not working. It couldn’t maneuver to dock, nor could it maneuver to do a proper and safe de-orbit. Fortunately, engineers were able to figure out a way to get the thursters operational again so a docking could occur, but until then, it was certainly a Type A situation.

The report outlines in great detail the background behind Starliner’s thruster issues, the management confusion between NASA and Boeing, and the overall confused management at Boeing itself, including its generally lax testing standards.

More: https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/essays-and-commentaries/nasa-on-starliner-too-much-freedom-caused-the-failure/#more-121697

[BobfromWB]

NASA on Starliner: Too much freedom caused the failure!

Today, we are formally declaring a Type A mishap and ensuring leadership accountability so situations like this never reoccur. We look forward to working with Boeing as both organizations implement corrective actions and return Starliner to flight only when ready.”

A Type A mishap is one in which a spacecraft could become entirely uncontrollable, leading to its loss and the death of all on board. Though Starliner was NOT lost, for a short while as it hung close to ISS that result was definitely possible. Its thrusters were not working. It couldn’t maneuver to dock, nor could it maneuver to do a proper and safe de-orbit. Fortunately, engineers were able to figure out a way to get the thrusters operational again so a docking could occur, but until then, it was certainly a Type A situation.

It needs to be noted that a Type A mishap is the same category as the Columbia and Challenger "mishaps". Not to be minimized.

Starliner is a death trap for anyone using it, and should be scrapped in its entirety. But because Boeing has so many other contracts and is such a big player in the space industry, they will be given an other chance.

When they really should not.