NASA says defective software could have doomed Boeing's crew capsule during its first test flight.
The Starliner capsule launched without astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida in December. But its automatic timer was off, preventing the capsule from flying to the International Space Station as planned.
NASA reported Friday that in addition to the timer error, a software issue with the Starliner's service module was not detected until the flight was almost over. If ground controllers had not intervened, officials say the Starliner could have been destroyed. NASA has yet to decide whether Boeing must conduct another test flight without a crew, before putting astronauts on board.