An uncrewed test flight of a Boeing spacecraft designed to carry NASA astronauts may have narrowly avoided catastrophic failure in December. A software error that could have resulted in loss of the spacecraft was discovered and fixed while the capsule, known as Starliner, was in orbit, and not long before it returned to Earth. During its trip to orbit, the spacecraft set its clock to the wrong time, causing it to deplete its propellant. A planned docking at the space station was called off, and the mission was cut short, to two days instead of eight. The newly disclosed flaw, described by Boeing in a statement as “a valve mapping software issue,” would have bumbled Starliner’s preparations for re-entry.

Source: International New York Times February 07, 2020 18:56 UTC