Watchdog Panel's Annual NASA Safety Report Reveals New Boeing Starliner Issue, Questions Viable...

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The annual watchdog report tasked to gauge NASA safety commended the agency's handling of last year's beleaguered Boeing Starliner mission, but revealed yet another issue found during the flight and questioned NASA's needs for the spacecraft in the future.

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), which was formed in 1968, released its assessment of NASA mission safety from 2024, paying specific attention to human risk, especially on the International Space Station and from both Commercial Crew Program providers SpaceX and Boeing.

The ASAP report commended NASA's call to favor astronaut safety, but as an observer during the sundry meetings leading up to the decision, it warned NASA needs to better define who is in charge.

"The agency presumed risk, demanding proof that the mission was safe rather than assuming safety and forcing dissenters to prove otherwise," the report stated.

It noted that NASA leadership had directed a post-mission review of the mission, but before that was completed, the ASAP report raised at least one red flag amid the public-private partnership that drives the Commercial Crew Program.

"It is already evident this case illustrates the pressing need for clear roles and responsibilities for service providers with respect to risk," it stated.

The report pointed out "ambiguity in the interrelationship between an initial Boeing-directed Mission Management Team (MMT) meeting, where data were assessed, and a subsequent NASA-led Commercial Crew Program Control Board that sought further analysis."