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Setback in flight time count behind Starliner spacecraft incident — NASA chief

The Starliner spacecraft is intended to eventually carry NASA astronauts to the International Space Station

NASA Chief James Bridenstine REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman

NASA Chief James Bridenstine

© REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman

NEW YORK, December 20. /TASS/. The incident with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that missed its target orbit is due to a setback in its flight time count, NASA Chief James Bridenstine announced on his Twitter on Friday.

As the NASA chief said, "Starliner had a Mission Elapsed Time (MET) anomaly causing the spacecraft to believe that it was in an orbital insertion burn, when it was not."

Update: #Starliner had a Mission Elapsed Time (MET) anomaly causing the spacecraft to believe that it was in an orbital insertion burn, when it was not. More information at 9am ET: https://t.co/wwsfqqvLN7
— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) December 20, 2019

As a result, "the spacecraft burned more fuel than anticipated to maintain precise control," the NASA chief said.

The US Boeing Company, which has developed the Starliner spacecraft, announced earlier on Friday that the capsule was inserted in orbit in an off-nominal mode. NASA Chief Bridenstine said that the Starliner was "in a stable orbit." According to Bridenstine, "the Starliner capsule itself missed a planned engine burn to put it in its target orbit" en route to the International Space Station.

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