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I am absolutely furious at Boeing and their "space capsule" docked at the ISS!
I 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/
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Agreed! Yeah, put the CEO and CFO in there. I'm just so furious that they didn't know exactly why they had the leaks and still launched that monumental POS.
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Engineers AND CEO/CFO!
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This should put a smile on your face. :3
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Those are pretty funny! I'd never heard of that series, thanks!
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Boeing is so F'ed up. :o :o :o
Hugs, Jon
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"It really is rocket science guys." Nailed it in one, Jon. Sadly, Boeing has been taken over by the MBA/bean counter mentality that is prioritizing shareholder return.
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If they send the two down in the Starliner, they risk death. If they wait for the Dragon, they're up their for EIGHT MONTHS. I'm not sure Boeing can write a software update before the batteries reach the end of their certification, and if they can, how sure can we be of the testing?
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Much as we hate Musk-run ventures, SpaceX seems to be doing a better job than Boeing at this point.
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SpaceX has proven themselves to be a lean and effective operation. As much as I hate the concept of 'move fast and break things', it has worked for them. Whereas Boing is still on the government teat cost plus contract model, and they seem to have lost their engineering ethos in favor of that money, and have completely lost their way. If I were interested in investing in aerospace, which I'm not, I know which direction I would go in.