#ICYMI: Quick summary of Starliner update
- Boeing had a 2nd software issue which could have led to a *potentially* catastrophic collision between the crew and service modules.
- This issue was only caught due to a double check of the software after the timer anomaly.
- Boeing had a 2nd software issue which could have led to a *potentially* catastrophic collision between the crew and service modules.
- This issue was only caught due to a double check of the software after the timer anomaly.
Thus, you can put two things together and pretty much say that the Mission Elapsed Timer anomaly may have saved Starliner from disaster.
Also, and this was not directly addressed on the call, since the second software issue was with the service module, it does not seem like something that the crew would have had much control over in terms of fixing the problem inflight.
The service module would have been detached from the crew module at the time of the potential anomaly. Seems like the only thing the crew would have been able to do would be to potentially work to stabilize the crew module after a collision.
The Orbital Flight Test was however a test flight with no crew onboard. I know it sounds like a broken record when people say this over and over again, but this is why we test!
Other than some antenna issues, it does appear that the overall hardware design of Starliner is sound. A thorough review and corrective action of Starliner's software validation processes seems like a good path to crewed spaceflight, after potentially a redo of OFT.
