Another Boeing vehicle may kill its passengers on a date TBD

[Al-O-Meter]

NASA gave Boeing a $4.8 billion dollar contract to develop a space capsule named Starliner. It has been plagued by delays and poor performance. For a fraction of the cost and time, Elon Musk’s Space X developed a competing capsule called Crew Dragon which as flown many times now.

After years and years of delays, Boeing finally launched astronauts aboard a Starliner for the first time 12 days ago. Even before launch the engineers detected something wrong, but Boeing made them launch it anyway. On the way up, the capsule has developed 4 additional helium leaks and 5 thrusters failed. The engineers and crew managed to get 4 of the 5 thrusters back on and the Starliner made it to the International Space Station.

Although this maiden flight was supposed to be a quick up and back, the return trip keeps getting pushed back. If Starliner is going to kill these astronauts, it will be on the return trip during atmospheric reentry, and everybody knows it. The Boeing engineers are doing everything they can, but it is simple fact that this capsule is not 100%.

Elon Musk could save them. Space X could quickly ready a Crew Dragon on a Falcon 9 rocket and send it up to safely return the astronauts. It would make Boeing a laughing stock and be a massive win for Elon Musk. The question right now is: Is Boeing corporate pride worth risking the lives of astronauts by ordering them into a Starliner they know is faulty at the risk of killing them?

There is going to be a formal press conference tomorrow to announce what Boeing plans on doing.

https://www.upi.com/Science_News/20...ng-Butch-Wilmore-Suni-Williams/8941718646274/

Starliner’s Return Delayed Again: What’s Next for the Spacecraft?

NASA and Boeing have postponed the return of the Starliner crew from the ISS to June 22, allowing more time for departure preparations. Meanwhile, extensive testing on Starliner's capabilities continues, including a 'hot fire test' of its thrusters. NASA and Boeing are now targeting no earlier than

scitechdaily.com

 

[Al-O-Meter]

At the press conference yesterday, the Boeing staff talked about how safe the Starliner is, and then delayed the return another 4 days to go over the data some more.

There is a real chance that out of corporate pride, Boeing could kill these two astronauts. I'm not saying for sure it will happen. I think most likely the astronauts will get home safely but it sure seems reckless to risk it when they don't have to.

NASA, Boeing delay Starliner astronaut landing to June 26 amid thruster issues

Starliner's planned 1-week stay at the ISS has been extended considerably.

www.space.com

 

[fishonjazz]

At the press conference yesterday, the Boeing staff talked about how safe the Starliner is, and then delayed the return another 4 days to go over the data some more.

There is a real chance that out of corporate pride, Boeing could kill these two astronauts. I'm not saying for sure it will happen. I think most likely the astronauts will get home safely but it sure seems reckless to risk it when they don't have to.

NASA, Boeing delay Starliner astronaut landing to June 26 amid thruster issues

Starliner's planned 1-week stay at the ISS has been extended considerably.

www.space.com

Do they have to though?
Are the astronauts children being held hostage or something and the only way to get them back is to complete the mission?

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

 

[Al-O-Meter]

Do they have to though?
Are the astronauts children being held hostage or something and the only way to get them back is to complete the mission?

I'm sure they could refuse to get on the Starliner and NASA would figure out another way to get them home, but it would be the end of their careers. NASA wouldn't work with them again. Boeing wouldn't work with them, and likely none of Boeing's subcontractors, which is almost all of the aerospace industry, would work with them after embarrassing Boeing like that.

 

[fishonjazz]

I'm sure they could refuse to get on the Starliner and NASA would figure out another way to get them home, but it would be the end of their careers. NASA wouldn't work with them again. Boeing wouldn't work with them, and likely none of Boeing's subcontractors, which is almost all of the aerospace industry, would work with them after embarrassing Boeing like that.

I would choose that over death.
If it's actually as unsafe as you are claiming it is.

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

 

[Al-O-Meter]

I would choose that over death.
If it's actually as unsafe as you are claiming it is.

I’m not entirely clear why NASA let this flight go forward at all. The Boeing Starliner has never flown correctly. Every flight has had technical problems.

Orbital Test Flight 1 (OFT-1) was supposed to be an unscrewed mission to send Starliner to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) in 2019. The rocket got the capsule to orbit but it did not have enough thrust to make it to ISS. In trying to figure out what happened, the Boeing engineers discovered a software bug entirely unrelated to why Starliner failed to reach ISS that had they not found would have resulted in Starliner crashing.

Boeing Orbital Flight Test - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There was so much wrong with OFT-1 that NASA made them prove they had fixed everything before they let them try again. That took 18 months. Then in 2021 they were ready to do another uncrewed flight when a last minute check discovered the valves controlling the thrusters were stuck. They had to take everything apart and reengineer it. That took another year.

Finally in 2022, OFT-2 happened and before the Starliner reached ISS it had two thrusters fail. The engineers did manage to compensate and get it to dock with ISS. Subsequently it disembarked and made it through reentry.

Starliner concludes OFT-2 test flight with landing in New Mexico

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner safely landed in New Mexico May 25, concluding a six-day uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station.

spacenews.com

That is all the flights before this one. NASA never made Boeing do even a single flight where everything went right before letting them put humans in it. This is flight #3 and this time five thrusters failed. The Starliner sat in orbit short of ISS for a day while the engineers from the ground effectively unplugged everything and plugged it back in to see if that fixed the problem. Four of the failed five thrusters came back online long enough that they were able to get Starliner to ISS and dock.

Boeing has now delayed the return three times. I do think mostly likely the Starliner will make it back through reentry but I’m glad I’m not on it.

 

[Al-O-Meter]

NASA announced another delay late Friday. The Boeing Starliner is now delayed indefinitely. The Boeing corporate happy talk about how amazing the Starliner is performing in the same articles announcing how it isn't cleared to try reentry is amusing. According to Boeing, the Starliner is so fantastic that it is ready to go right now but the International Space Station is dusty so the astronauts can't fly right now because they're staying to help clean, or cheer other astronauts doing spacewalks, or the ISS has a great coffee maker and you know how much astronauts love their coffee. You see, the astronauts can stay longer because the Boeing Starliner is so phenomenal that doesn't even need to fly back through the atmosphere and can instead just sit there attached to ISS not killing anyone.

NASA, Boeing Adjust Timeline for Starliner Return – Space Station

blogs.nasa.gov

 

[Al-O-Meter]

The astronauts who flew to ISS on the Boeing Starliner are still stuck in space. NASA has announced that Boeing Starliner is not allowed to return the astronauts. That may change, but NASA said it is possible the Boeing test astronauts will be stuck on the ISS until February of next year at which time they'd return on a SpaceX Dragon.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/08/07/starliner-nasa-boeing-spacex/

NASA Says Boeing Starliner Astronauts May Fly Home on SpaceX in 2025

The agency had insisted for a couple of months that it was confident that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore would return on Starliner.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Al-O-Meter]

NASA finally made the obvious decision. The Boeing Starliner has been judged too dangerous to be trusted with returning astronauts. SpaceX will be sending up one of their Dragons to get the Boeing test pilots home.

SpaceX will bring Boeing's Starliner astronauts home from the International Space Station

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the decision was driven by the agency's commitment to safety, especially after the disasters that beset the space shuttle program.

www.latimes.com

 

[Al-O-Meter]

Now the Boeing Starliner, still in space attached to ISS, is making a pulsing-bang noise that no one can explain.


View: https://x.com/SpaceBasedFox/status/1830180273130242223


This is not an internet hoax. Neither NASA or the Boeing engineers can explain it.

The Starliner spacecraft has started to emit strange noises

"I don't know what's making it."

arstechnica.com

Boeing’s Starliner started making a repeating ‘pulsing’ sound yesterday

It’s probably nothing.

www.theverge.com

Now there’s a creepy, sonar-like sound coming through one of Starliner’s speakers

On Saturday, astronaut Butch Wilmore alerted NASA’s Mission Control about an unexplained “strange noise” coming from a speaker in the spacecraft. An audio clip of the conversation was shared on a NASASpaceflight forum by meteorologist Rob Dale.

www.engadget.com