NASA declares Starliner mishap a “high visibility close call”

Enlarge / A protective tent is placed over Starliner after it returned to Earth in December. (credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

After pondering the totality of issues that arose during a December test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft this week, NASA chief of human spaceflight Doug Loverro said Friday that he decided to escalate the incident.

So he designated Starliner's uncrewed mission, during which the spacecraft flew a shortened profile and did not attempt to dock with the International Space Station, as a "high visibility close call." This relatively rare designation for NASA's human spaceflight program falls short of "loss of mission" but is nonetheless fairly rare. It was last used by NASA after a spacewalk in 2013 when water began to dangerously pool in the helmet of astronaut Luca Parmitano.

Asked to explain during a conference call with reporters why he did this, Loverro said, "We could have lost a spacecraft twice during this mission."

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