NASA finds 'fundamental' software problems in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft

[Zorro]

Source: Washington Post

Investigators probing the botched flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in December have found widespread and “fundamental” problems with the company’s software that could have led to a disastrous outcome more grievous than previously known, the agency said Friday.

Boeing is now reviewing all 1 million lines of code in the capsule’s computer systems, officials said. How long that review will take is uncertain, Boeing officials said.

The discovery of widespread software problems in the Starliner spacecraft is reminiscent of the issues that surfaced in the aftermath of the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max airplanes that killed 346 people and led to the plane’s grounding since early last year. Doug Loverro, the head of human exploration for NASA, said he could not speak to what, if any, connection there might be between the Starliner’s software problems and the issues with the 737 Max.

But he said the discovery of widespread issues with the Starliner software indicated “we have a real breakdown of the software process.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/02/07/boeing-starliner-software-problems/

[iluvtennis]

1. So glad the issues are found upfront. Doesn't sound like Boeing does thorough testing of their

code anymore. Back in the day, these issue were far and few between as government required Boeing/other contractors to THOROUGHLY test software through multiple test phases. And then the government paid another company to do independent verification testing and validation of the software. Sound like short cuts are now being allowed. That's unacceptable.

[aka-chmeee]

2. News back in June

revealed Boeing was using temp workers contracted out of India and paid as little as $9/hr to develop and test software for the 737 Max. Nothing says they also worked on the NASA project, but why would anyone doubt it.

[Grokenstein]

5. "Teaching the controversy" is finally paying off!

Have any of these knuckleknobs ever considered the consequen--oh, wait, how silly of me, of course they haven't.

But this is where we wind up when school prayer is more important than, oh, say, actual education. We have to hire out all the S-M-R-T stuff to other countries, but we don't want to pay them because we are exceptional and we hate foreigners. We'll get what we pay for, and then we'll pay for our stupidity.

Eventually we're going to wind up sitting in our own rubble and filth, screaming "MURIKA NUBBER, uh...WUN!! HOW DIS HAPPEN? OBAMAAAA!!" as our enemies come to polish us off.

[paleotn]

16. The old adage, you get what you pay for comes to mind.

A former employer of mine went through something similar and it was a nightmare. It cost management their jobs from the c suite to the factory floor. Stupid, short sighted decisions by supposedly smart people. And smart people don't seem to learn any lessons from other smart people's screw ups.

[B Stieg]

3. At this rate...

Boing is going to be paying us to buy its increasingly worthless stock!

Just do your f*cking jobs, Boeing engineers.

[groundloop]

4. I'm quite sure the problem isn't with Boeing engineers, but rather poor decisions by management

As stated above much of the code development was contracted out to foreign companies who paid their people peanuts. Furthermore, it sounds like there were management decisions to cut down on testing. All in the name of more profits.

[Lonestarblue]

15. Wall Street is also part of the problem.

Corporations exist for one reason today, and that is to return as much money as possible to their shareholders by any means possible. The pressure to increase profits is constant, leading managers to make decisions on cost and not quality or safety. CEOs and top managers have become greedy because their bonuses depend on lowering costs and keeping profits high so they outsource work to other countries knowing that quality will suffer but hoping that customers won’t leave them.

Elizabeth Warren is correct that we need some change in how Wall Street operates. We also need change in executive pay. CEOs like the former one at Boeing should not benefit when they make decisions that cost lives.

[Sapient Donkey]

6. Rough times for Boeing. Perhaps better times for SpaceX

[jgmiller]

7. As soneone who works in development

This is exactly what happens when the driving force becomes cost savings instead of quality. Frankly that goes for any process but when it's software it's so much easier to screw up. If you mess up something mechanical there are usually many chances for someone to see the problem, with code there are very, very few chances. If you are pushing people to code faster to save money all you are doing is guaranteeing more mistakes. Coding is something that should always be perfect but the reality is that's not possible so introducing pressure to the situation just magnifies the bugs.

[hatrack]

8. Looks like hiring Wacky Willy's Clown College for coding didn't work out . . .

Oh well, I"m sure there will be a new management team along soon to talk about "synergies" and "silos" and how to "move fast and break things".

[James48]

9. And stove pipes.

Don’t forget about stove pipes.

It’s amazing, working for the government in 2020, that buzzwords like “eliminating stove pipes” still hang around. There haven’t been actual stoves with stove pipes since we quit burning wood to heat our bath water.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Lots of high tech people have wood stoves for heat and enjoyment. More sustainable than oil.

Everything old does not automatically disappear just because there is an app.

I suspect that if you went to your big box hardware store and asked for stove pipes they would direct you to an aisle. Unless perhaps if you are in southern Arizona.

There are still buggy whip manufacturers, for good reasons.

[PSPS]

10. Don't forget sea change and win-win. Those are important too!!111!

[hatrack]

13. Oh, the the Triple Bottom Line - can't forget that one!

[KY_EnviroGuy]

11. K&R and congrats on 10K posts!

There's an old saying I've heard numerous times as a service engineer when I was being too thorough on a job: "Just shoot all the engineers and get it done!".

KY.............

[Zorro]

19. Thanks

Only took me 19 years to reach 10k.

[Locrian]

14. its going to get worse....

I have over 30 years in aerospace as ME/EE. The entire system is nowhere near it used to be, and it's going to be hard to get it back.

It's treated as a commodity, cost cutting, budgets, etc with no regard to the engineering being center to the product. Which of course is happening everywhere but in this industry you have precious margin for error.

What we're seeing now is a mass exodus of the boomers as they grab on to any excuse to get out of the system. Early retirement, etc - a giant brain drain coupled with devalued respect for what it takes to pass on their knowledge to the next generations. Add in a middle "gut" of 40-50 year olds in the industry due to the economic down turns during those years.

And aero is just not ass hot a job anymore - due to a lot of the above - but it doesn't compete with Tesla, SpaceX, etc in terms of attracting people. I remember in the 80s aero was THE job to have. Not anymore.

So you have an industry that disrespects the engineers - young generation not being adequately trained, exodus of the old guard.... what could go wrong?

[paleotn]

17. And that's why we test and retest and retest again..

Somebody has a serious QA problem in their software engineering department. If it were a vacuum company, it would just be humorous to mildly irritating. But when hundreds of people's lives are on the line every time a commercial jet takes off, that's a whole different ball game. It think Boeing's management has lost sight of that. They don't have the quality flexibility of a vacuum manufacturer.

[Kablooie]

22. It's the management that's been putting schedules at at higher priority than results.

So what if one little wind sensor if off a little bit? Who will notice?

[Maxheader]

18. I find it hard to believe..all these software issues...

and centralized around a common theme...flight controls...

IMho, the controlling fed/regulatory boys may have dropped the ball
on changes needed at an earlier time..

Boeing/vendors, have been developing flight software for quite awhile...It is on aircraft flying around now. The issues with cg aren't insurmountable...The aerospace industry has been dealing with it for years..Through airfoil changes, to winglets...

[RT Atlanta]

20. Jeez... this and the software for the 737 max

Boeing is rushing profits over functionality....

[Kablooie]

21. Boy, Boeing is working hard to kill their reputation of having the highest standards.

If I were a customer, I'd be looking for someone else to deal with.
I wouldn't trust them at all anymore.