Boeing’s “Starliner” space shuttle aborted launching just minutes before takeoff after a “problem” was detected by a countdown computer.
Engineers initially were told to set up for another launch try Sunday, at 12:03 p.m. EDT, but NASA later announced the mission was postponed again.
Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance, builder of the Atlas 5 rocket, said the issue involved one of three networked computer racks in a building at the base of the launch pad.
“The disappointment lasts for about three seconds. And then you just immediately get busy and do your job. We’ll be back,” Bruno said.
Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Starliner project manager, said the team was ready to refocus on what to do next.
“You know when you’re playing a game and you get a bad call, you’re a little irritated at first, or a little frustrated at first, but you immediately focus on the next pitch and that’s what our teams do, they’re focused on the next pitch,” Nappi said.
“As soon as we went into the launch scrub and launch turnaround, I looked out into the control room and everybody had their heads down, working the procedures to get ready for another attempt tomorrow.”
The incident comes just one month after whistleblowers with Boeing have come forward to speak out against the company’s safety procedures despite two other whistleblowers having passed away suddenly.
One whistleblower was found dead from a gunshot wound while another died from an infection.
A whistleblower who left Boeing six years ago, Ed Pierson, is a former senior manager who went on to create the Foundation for Aviation Safety.
“It’s an unstable company right now from the top to the bottom,” Pierson told The New York Post. “Senior corporate leadership is so fixated on not admitting the truth that they can’t admit anything.”
“Boeing is an American icon,” he said. “This company is incredibly important to our country, both economically and in terms of national security with its commercial aviation side and its military defense work. But it doesn’t work when you have the wrong people driving the bus.”
