TNB Tech Minute: SpaceX May Bring Starliner Astronauts Home

[00:00:00] Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Wednesday, August 7. I'm Zoe Thomas for the Wall Street Journal. NASA officials say two astronauts who flew to orbit on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in June could remain at the International Space Station until 2025 and return home with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

[00:00:21] The pair were meant to be on a week-long visit to the ISS, but that changed after the temporary failure of several thrusters and the discovery of helium leaks in Starliner's propulsion. Boeing said it still believes in Starliner, and if NASA decides to change the mission,

[00:00:37] it will configure the craft for an uncrewed return. SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is investigating some of the biggest U.S. banks for how they respond when customers dispute transactions made through the peer-to-peer payments platform, ZEL.

[00:00:55] According to people familiar with the matter, the people said part of the probe's focus is on whether banks are proactive enough in shutting down accounts controlled by scammers. ZEL is owned by a consortium of seven of the largest U.S. banks, including J.P. Morgan,

[00:01:10] Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Early warning, the network operator of ZEL said in a statement that 99.95 percent of transactions are completed without reports of fraud or scams, thanks to the countermeasures it has in place. And Tesla is recalling nearly 1.7 million cars in China.

[00:01:30] The recalls arise from a failure to detect and issue alerts when a vehicle's hood is unlatched, according to the Chinese regulator. Tesla recently issued a recall for vehicles in the U.S. for the same reason. The company didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

[00:01:45] For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Thursday's Tech News Briefing podcast.