Posted on 07/31/2024 4:39:58 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Saturday that its rival Boeing Co. is awarded government contracts in the space segment owing to their "armies of lobbyists" despite safety concerns around its commercial plane segment...
"They have armies of lobbyists," Musk wrote in response to an X user who wondered why Boeing is awarded big contracts from the government despite the issues flagged with its passenger flight segment.
"Not sure why Boeing (given their track record with passenger flights) is given such contracts when SpaceX (given their track record with launches) is just vastly superior," Dhaval Shroff wrote. Shroff is also an employee at Musk's Tesla.
The comments on Boeing's alleged incompetence relative to SpaceX come amid safety issues plaguing its commercial airplane segment and technical issues identified with its Starliner spacecraft.
Boeing launched its Starliner spacecraft in early June with two astronauts – Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. Though they were initially estimated to return on June 14, the return dates have been delayed time and again owing to issues of helium system leaks and thruster performance identified with the Starliner spacecraft while docking with the International Space Station (ISS.)
NASA is currently trying to study the risks associated with these issues before returning the astronauts...
SpaceX sent its first crewed mission to the ISS in 2020 on its Dragon spacecraft and has since then undertaken multiple missions, overtaking its traditional rival.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
The first Boeing Starliner to fly astronauts to space performed a crucial in-space test Saturday (July 27) as the next mission faces a months-long delay.
Engineers tested Starliner's reaction control system (RCS) thrusters to prepare for a wider agency review that will evaluate the spacecraft's readiness for landing NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams sometime in August, if all goes to plan...
Starliner faced issues during the debut astronaut docking with the International Space Station (ISS) on June 6. While it eventually made it, helium leaks and issues with five thrusters delayed the event. Starliner is rated to leave the ISS in case of emergency, but before astronauts attempt a nominal departure, engineers are trying to understand why those issues happened.
Figuring out what happened is key to the readiness of the next mission, Starliner-1, which is supposed to spend six months on the ISS in 2025. On Friday (July 28), NASA announced a delay of that mission to August 2025, past an initial expectation of early winter...
Starliner-1 will delay to allow "a little bit more time for Starliner to complete the mods from the new tests," NASA's Steve Stich told reporters. Stich is NASA's commercial crew program manager.Boeing's Starliner tests thrusters at ISS as NASA reviews options for astronauts' return to Earth | Elizabeth Howell | Space.com | July 29 2024 ("published 2 days ago")
I’m certain this has nothing to do with Musk’s support of Trump and free speech.
NASA is currently trying to study the risks associated with these issues before returning the astronauts ...
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Which, since there must be more than one committee studying this vast & perplexing problem, could take years, Unions willing.
:^)
If I’m the astronaut stuck in the ISS I’m refusing to return on that leaking time bomb and I’m begging NASA to have Elon bring me home in a Space X capsule.
Back in June (and I’m too lazy to look for it) I posted an IMHO that NASA had already determined that the craft wasn’t safe to return the astronauts, but that Boeing didn’t want that outcome.
Boeing’s suits want to keep testing hoping to iron out the craft’s problems, but more delay just means more decay. NASA is allowing it because, well armies of lobbyists, and pressure from the Biden junta. Biden’s FAA put a ridiculous hold on (unmanned) Falcon 9 launches due to an upper stage failure during a satellite launch attempt, Spacex’ first failure in years.
I doubt that the Starliner craft will even survive reentry to the extent that there will be wreckage to analyze, so the only time to get data will be while it’s still docked, and/or in independent orbit with no one aboard.
Ultimately I think that’s what will be the outcome — Boeing doesn’t want a big public failure during unmanned reentry, and will just let it float by itself. When the data stream indicates that complete vehicle failure is imminent, it’ll be told to ditch in an empty stretch of the Pacific. That’ll be months from now.
That way, Boeing will claim this as a “successful failure” and crow about crew safety being paramount.
First thing I thought as well. This is a derpstate slap down of Musk for going against the globalist narrative.
It’s called the MIC that Eisenhower warned us about. The neoCONs are huge advocates for crony capitalism aka the MIC that grifts off public contracts funneled through their co-conspirators in CONgress.
As a Twenty 21 year plus employee of Boeing, Seattle I can tell you what has killed Boeing.
The McDonald Douglas merger.
Boeing used to be the best, but then the “Mc DO D” accountants grabbed on to my company and destroyed it.
I said Fu$k it and left as did many other old timers.
You see the results today.
A bunch of weenie people more worried about stockholder
Share value, than producing the best engineered products in the world.
Making the best product isn’t “Tangible” on a spread sheet but it will make you #1.
Being #1 will pay the bills and make you the best.
I’d rather work for the company that makes the best product in the world than one that pays the best dividends to stockholders.
BTW I was a Boeing stockholder.
The hold on SpaceX was obviously lifted since there were three successful Falcon9 launches this past weekend.
So you believe that ultimately SpaceX will bring these astronauts back to earth? What else is possible. Soyuz?
If you were an astronaut, which company would you rather have strapped to your back side?
Thanks rellic!
Even if the two astronauts wanted to -- and Butch said before the first delay of the launch went all cheerleader and said Starliner was the only craft he'd fly on -- I think NASA gave them and Boeing a hard no, but privately.
NASA loves to throw money away
The reason Boeing had to partner with SAIC to win the FCS program was because Boeing didn’t have enough votes in Congress by itself to get funding. Because of this we ended up with two chefs and no leads on the biggest, most expensive project the army ever had. It was a predictable disaster. But it was such a disaster because Boeing could get literally anything funded via politics whether it made sense of not.
and astranauts
In retrospect, the McDoD merger was not only a commercial disaster, but a national security disaster.
Give Boeing credit where it is due—they hire top notch lobbyists and keep a lot of Congress-critters on their payroll (and probably blackmail list).
That is the way it works in the Swamp—gotta acknowledge they understand the rules of the game.
The minute any company hands the reigns over to accountants they are done. It’s only a matter of time.
Accountants have absolutely no vision for the business and the only trick they know is cutting costs.
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