---
title: "Boeing’s Starliner Could Spin Out of Control and Crash Into the Space Station, Expert Warns"
description: "While NASA works on figuring out how to get the Boeing astronauts home, experts are concerned that it may crash into the Space Station."
date: "2024-08-13"
modified: "2024-08-13"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-boeing-starliner-crash-iss-concern"
categories:
  - "Boeing"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "boeing"
  - "NASA"
  - "starliner"
  - "the digest"
---

# Boeing’s Starliner Could Spin Out of Control and Crash Into the Space Station, Expert Warns

![While NASA works on figuring out how to get the Boeing astronauts home, experts are concerned that it may crash into the Space Station.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/nasa-boeing-starliner-crash-iss-concern.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA / Futurism\</em\>*

## Collision Calculation

While NASA works on f[iguring out how to get the Boeing Starliner astronauts home](<https://futurism.com/stranded-astronauts-stuck-space-station-nasa>), experts are concerned that it may straight-up crash into the International Space Station.

As [*Business Insider* notes](<https://www.businessinsider.com/starliner-stuck-space-threatens-boeing-plans-rival-elon-musk-spacex-2024-8>), there are concerns inside and outside the agency that once the plagued spacecraft undocks from the ISS, malfunctioning thrusters could lead it to spin out of control and ultimately crash into the station.

First floated by [sources who spoke to *Ars Technica*](<https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/nasa-likely-to-significantly-delay-the-launch-of-crew-9-due-to-starliner-issues/>) about the issue on condition of anonymity last week, this seeming worst-case scenario was not entirely dismissed by a NASA spokesperson that *BI* spoke to, who refused to comment on the issue.

We have also reached out to the agency about whether or not those concerns are being discussed internally, and have yet to hear back.

In an interview with *BI*, famed Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell explained how such a fiasco could unfold.

"If you are undocking from the \[ISS\] and you lose more than a certain number of your thrusters," he explained, "there's a chance that you might be stuck drifting and or even crash into the Space Station."

## Boeing Blues

Though the agency didn't comment on that specific concern, the spokesperson *BI* was in contact with did flag its [latest update on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission](<https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2024/08/06/nasa-adjusts-crew-9-launch-date-for-operational-flexibility/>), which has been [delayed from August 18](<https://spacenews.com/nasa-delays-crew-9-launch-as-it-grapples-with-starliner-problems/>) until no sooner than September 24 as NASA continues to grapple with Starliner issues.

Indeed, even as Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams' marooning on the Space Station is potentially [being extended into 2025](<https://futurism.com/stranded-astronauts-stuck-space-station-nasa>), [NASA's watchdog has released a damning report](<https://futurism.com/nasa-inspector-boeing-work-moon-rocket>) on the Space Launch System, Boeing's *other* agency commission that has ended up costing $700 million more than it was ever supposed to.

As McDowell told *BI*, this entire debacle smacks of dissatisfaction on both sides.

"I've got to think that the higher-ups of Boeing are regretting ever getting into this game," he said. "This particular program has been a financial disaster for them, a public relations disaster for them."

With so much [going wrong for Boeing here on terra firma](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/flight-attendants-alaska-airlines-boeing-nightmare>), there's no doubt that the nightmarish Starliner saga and the SLS embarrassment are making internal waves at that company.

What's worse: once the SLS actually is finished, McDowell predicted that "it's unlikely to fly that many times."

Seriously though, how much bad press can one company handle?

**More on Starliner woes:** [*NASA Clown Car Plan Would Stuff Extra Astronauts Into SpaceX Capsule to Avoid Return Journey in Disastrous Boeing Starliner*](<https://futurism.com/nasa-stuff-extra-astronauts-spacex-starliner>)

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)