Astronauts lost control of a Boeing starliner while docking with the ISS

INA - SOURCES

While NASA attempted to downplay Starliner's known issues during the early days of the problem-plagued Boeing Crew Test Flight last June, the situation was far more precarious for the astronauts at the controls and the people sitting in mission control. 

Astronaut Butch Wilmore said that the Boeing Starliner suffered enough thruster failures to lose full control during its launch rendezvous with the International Space Station. 

The situation should have forced the spacecraft to abort its docking attempt, but NASA waived established flight rules.

The mission's astronauts had an uneasy feeling that something could go wrong after witnessing thruster failures during the uncrewed Orbital Flight Test missions. 

However, the initial launch went off without a hitch. The ULA Atlas V rocket maintained its trajectory perfectly and Starliner excelled in its post-separation maneuvering tests. 

Things changed when Starliner approached the station, however, experiencing thruster failures, and Wilmore took manual control of the spacecraft.