Astronauts nearly died on Boeing Starliner, NASA confirms

Two National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts who were “stranded” in space for nine months came close to dying when their Boeing-built spacecraft lost control during a test flight.

The new findings are made in the agency report, which classified the situation as a life-threatening “Type A mishap.”

In June 2024, the mission carrying astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams faced NASA’s most severe mishaps.

Previously, the “type A” category was labelled to fatal Space Shuttle disasters in 1986 and 2003.

The Boeing Starliner capsule was on its first crewed test flight to the International Space Station when its thrusters failed, leaving it dangerously out of control.

Wilmore and Williams averted the disaster by restarting the propulsion system and manually docking with the station.

A senior NASA official, Amit Kshatriya, said: “We almost did have a really terrible day.”

Initially, the astronauts were sent for 10 days in space, but later they remained on the station for nine months.

They eventually returned to Earth in March 2025.

NASA’s 312-page report blamed hardware failures, leadership missteps, and a cultural breakdown between Boeing and the space agency.

The investigators also found that the capsule was not ready for crewed flight.

The report also cited that the Starliner faced issues during re-entry and had technical challenges throughout development, including flammable tape on electrical systems and parachute failures.