Retired NASA engineer warns Boeing’s Starliner could lose control on return trip and crash into populated area

Later today, NASA will attempt to autonomously undock Boeing's much-hyped Starliner spacecraft from the International Space Station and deorbit it for a soft landing in the New Mexico desert.

Serious technical problems with the spacecraft's propulsion systems led NASA to decide not to take the two astronauts it was carrying back home. Instead, NASA planned to have them return to Earth on a SpaceX mission in February.

But even without a crew on board, warns Don Nelson, a retired NASA Johnson Space Center engineer, there could still be risks.

"There is a high probability that the Boeing Starliner service module ...