But worse than the technical problems were the management problems:
The dividing lines between them are clearly defined. For example, any incident that causes at least $2 million of damages or other unplanned mission costs, or involves unexpected “departure from controlled flight,” is a Type A mishap.
CFT clearly met those criteria, Isaacman said today. But NASA did not classify the mission as a Type A mishap during and shortly after CFT, apparently because agency officials were too focused on getting Starliner certified to fly operational astronaut missions to the ISS.
“Concern for the Starliner program’s reputation influenced that decision,” Isaacman said today. “Programmatic advocacy exceeded reasonable balance and placed the mission, the crew and America’s space program at risk in ways that were not fully understood at the time decisions were being contemplated. This created a culture of mistrust that can never happen again, and there will be leadership accountability.”
With CFT officially being designated a Type A mishap, he added, “the record is now being corrected.”
People need to be canned, with serious prejudice, for that.