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thewayneI could spew an absolute ton of invective right now.
That shitshow of a capsule called the Starliner should not have launched. They knew there were problems with those thrusters, and they had problems docking.
And the problems have gotten worse.
The two astronauts were supposed to be up there for two weeks, then return home. They've been up there for TWO MONTHS. And now there's some very hard problems, and they could potentially result in fatalities.
Here's the basic problem. A spaceship contains batteries. The batteries have a fixed lifespan. The batteries in the Starliner are rated through the end of August. That's not much time.
NASA is not 100% confident that the thruster problem is resolved. But Boeing is. Everybody raise your hands and jump up and down if you trust Boeing's answer.
Now, the previous successful mission of the Starliner worked great. Unmanned, it was launched, flew up to the ISS, docked itself, then later uncoupled, de-orbited, and landed in the ocean and was recovered. So the obvious answer is, why can't they do that, and the two astronauts be returned on a later flight?
BECAUSE BOEING REMOVED THE FUCKING SOFTWARE THAT PERFORMED THAT FUNCTION.
They updated software that worked. The big question is whether or not NASA and the two astronauts were notified of this change. Now someone, or some two, will have to be in that capsule, with potentially twitchy thrusters, to decouple it from the ISS and attempt to fly it back home.
The thrusters are needed twice. To move the capsule away from the ISS - SAFELY - and to reorient the capsule for its de-orbit burn. If the de-orbit burn is not performed correctly, it can mean quite literal death for the capsule occupants. And the thrusters are not 100% reliable.
I am absolutely flaming furious at Boeing!
Yes, space is hard. That's why engineers are careful and try to make sure everything is done right BEFORE any vehicle is classed as flight capable. This damn Starliner should never have been launched, it was scrubbed once because the thrusters were leaking, they should have scrubbed it again until they thoroughly understood what the problem was and it was absolutely fixed.
People's lives depend on it, you don't fuck around.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/nasa-likely-to-significantly-delay-the-launch-of-crew-9-due-to-starliner-issues/
That shitshow of a capsule called the Starliner should not have launched. They knew there were problems with those thrusters, and they had problems docking.
And the problems have gotten worse.
The two astronauts were supposed to be up there for two weeks, then return home. They've been up there for TWO MONTHS. And now there's some very hard problems, and they could potentially result in fatalities.
Here's the basic problem. A spaceship contains batteries. The batteries have a fixed lifespan. The batteries in the Starliner are rated through the end of August. That's not much time.
NASA is not 100% confident that the thruster problem is resolved. But Boeing is. Everybody raise your hands and jump up and down if you trust Boeing's answer.
Now, the previous successful mission of the Starliner worked great. Unmanned, it was launched, flew up to the ISS, docked itself, then later uncoupled, de-orbited, and landed in the ocean and was recovered. So the obvious answer is, why can't they do that, and the two astronauts be returned on a later flight?
BECAUSE BOEING REMOVED THE FUCKING SOFTWARE THAT PERFORMED THAT FUNCTION.
They updated software that worked. The big question is whether or not NASA and the two astronauts were notified of this change. Now someone, or some two, will have to be in that capsule, with potentially twitchy thrusters, to decouple it from the ISS and attempt to fly it back home.
The thrusters are needed twice. To move the capsule away from the ISS - SAFELY - and to reorient the capsule for its de-orbit burn. If the de-orbit burn is not performed correctly, it can mean quite literal death for the capsule occupants. And the thrusters are not 100% reliable.
I am absolutely flaming furious at Boeing!
Yes, space is hard. That's why engineers are careful and try to make sure everything is done right BEFORE any vehicle is classed as flight capable. This damn Starliner should never have been launched, it was scrubbed once because the thrusters were leaking, they should have scrubbed it again until they thoroughly understood what the problem was and it was absolutely fixed.
People's lives depend on it, you don't fuck around.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/nasa-likely-to-significantly-delay-the-launch-of-crew-9-due-to-starliner-issues/
