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A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 29 February 2020

This Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019 file photo shows the Boeing Starliner
spacecraft after it landed in White Sands, N.M.
Associated Press
Boeing blames incomplete

testing for astronaut

capsule woes Sean de Guzman, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources, right,
checks the depth of the snow pack as DWR's Chief of State Water Project Operations Molly White,
center, records the information during the third snow survey of the season at Phillips Station near
By MARCIA DUNNLE Echo Summit, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020.
Associated Press Associated Press
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing acknowledged Fri- California is abnormally dry after
day it failed to conduct full and adequate software tests
before the botched space debut of its astronaut capsule
late last year. low-precipitation winter
A software error left the Starliner capsule in the wrong or-
bit in December and precluded a docking with the In- By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ The lack of rain this year lawns during the five-year
ternational Space Station. Another software flaw could SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A comes after a wet 2019 drought. State water of-
have ended up destroying the capsule, if not fixed right dry beginning of the year that capped mountains ficials said Thursday that
before reentry. has left most of California with snow, delivering water it’s too early to consider
A Boeing vice president, John Mulholland, said both mis- abnormally parched, as of- to reservoirs and helping to conservation measures
takes would have been caught if complete, end-to-end ficials brace for the possibil- boost lush vegetation that and pointed out reservoirs
testing had been conducted in advance and actual ity of an early and more in- can quickly turn into fuel for statewide are either at or
flight equipment used instead of substitutes. tense wildfire season amid wildfires during dry, windy above their historical aver-
“We know that we need to improve,” he said. record-breaking tempera- conditions. ages for this time of year.
The company is still uncertain when its next test flight tures. About 75% of California’s “A few dry months really
might occur and whether astronauts might be aboard. Drought has expanded annual precipitation typi- doesn’t make a drought,”
NASA — which will have the final say — will announce the from just under 10% of the cally occurs from Decem- said Chris Orrock, a spokes-
outcome of the ongoing investigation review next Friday. state last week to nearly ber through February, man for the Department of
The first flight test had no crew. a quarter, mainly in cen- mostly from what’s known Water Resources.
SpaceX, meanwhile, aims to launch its Dragon crew cap- tral California, the heart as atmospheric rivers — “If we have to go through
sule with NASA astronauts this spring. of the state’s agricultural long plumes of moisture two dry years, then we start
Mulholland, who serves as the Starliner program manag- sector, according to a originating far out in the looking at what additional
er, said the company is still reviewing the Starliner’s 1 mil- U.S. Drought Monitor map Pacific Ocean. conservation measures we
lion lines of code to make certain no other problems exist. made public Thursday. But a high-pressure system need.”
Because Boeing tested the Starliner’s software in seg- The map released weekly parked in the Pacific has In another sign of Califor-
ments rather than in one continuous stream to simulate shows another 43% of the blocked storms from reach- nia’s dry conditions, state
the flight to and from the space station, the company state is now abnormally ing California and instead officials on Thursday con-
failed to catch an error that knocked the capsule’s in- dry. steered them to the Pacific ducted a survey of the Si-
ternal timer off by 11 hours shortly after liftoff. An unrelat- This month is shaping up Northwest. erra Nevada snowpack
ed communication problem prevented flight controllers to be the driest February “California and parts of the and found it was 47% of
from quickly sending commands in a bid to salvage the on record for much of the Southwest dried out while the March average at the
docking portion of the mission. state. Chances of light the Northwest observed Sierra’s Phillips Station.
Then, just hours before the capsule’s early return to New showers are on the hori- surplus precipitation,” The first reading on Jan. 2
Mexico, a second software error was detected by ground zon Saturday night but not wrote NOAA meteorologist found the snowpack was
controllers. This mistake stemmed from the use of substi- again until March 10. David Miskus, who issued 97% of the January aver-
tute equipment during preflight testing rather than actual Sierra Littlefield, a National this week’s Drought Moni- age. But dry conditions
flight hardware.q Weather Service meteorol- tor report. since then have hurt snow-
ogist in Sacramento, said A similar high-pressure sys- fall, which supplies about
there is a strong chance tem led to a statewide 30% of California’s water.
the state’s capital will see drought from 2011 to 2017 “February rain and snow
a completely dry February that prompted then-Gov. were quite disappointing,”
— something that has not Jerry Brown to order Cali- said Sean de Guzman,
happened in recorded his- fornia’s nearly 40 million chief of the department’s
tory. people to cut water use by snow surveys and water
Downtown San Francisco 25% — the first mandate of supply forecasting section.
is on its way to its first rain- its kind in the state. “We’ll most likely end this
free February since 1864, Californians heeded the water year below average.
according to the weather call, taking shorter show- We just don’t know how far
service. ers and ripping out their below.“q