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AYKM? Boeing Official Not Surprised Starliner Is Stuck in Orbit
PJ Media ^ | August 22, 2024 | Stephen Green

Posted on 08/22/2024 1:46:23 PM PDT by george76

Boeing Starliner program manager Mark Nappi ... it's no surprise that the company's Starliner crewed flight test is taking longer than expected — so far, almost ten times longer than expected. NASA astronauts Butch Williams and Suni Wilmore are on Day 77 of their eight-day stay aboard the International Space Station.

Nappi says he regrets not doing a better job of managing expectations.

"I think we all knew that it was going to go longer than that.. We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about how much longer, but I think it’s my regret that we didn’t just say ‘We’re going to stay up there until we get everything done that we want to go do.'"

What a crock of you-know-what.

There's a lot more at stake than merely deferring a discussion about how long Starliner's crewed flight test might take. At issue are little, multimillion-dollar details like Starliner hogging one of the ISS's very few docking ports. There are staffing issues, too — SpaceX's Crew-9 mission has been delayed by five weeks and its crew potentially reduced to two from four. Let's not forget that every bit of food and water on board the ISS has to be brought up from Earth at about $60 million per cargo run — and Butch & Suni's needs have increased from eight days, now to 77 days, possibly to as long as eight months.

...

2014, SpaceX received $2.6 billion to develop Crew Dragon, which has been flying manned missions since 2020. That same year — approximately 1.6 times longer until now than it took for Apollo to land men on the moon — Boeing won $4.2 billion to develop Starliner, and it has yet to successfully complete a single manned mission.

(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: astronauts; boeing; boeingstarliner; nasa; nasaastronauts; starliner; stranded; stuck
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1 posted on 08/22/2024 1:46:23 PM PDT by george76
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To: george76
"Boeing won $4.2 billion to develop Starliner, and it has yet to successfully complete a single manned mission."

The numbers and the incompetence boggle my mind.
2 posted on 08/22/2024 1:49:17 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Pray for Peace in the world.)
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To: george76

3 posted on 08/22/2024 1:52:54 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: george76

Disgraceful. This will not end well. Boeing and NASA clearly do not have the caliber of people who brought Apollo 13 back home. Boeing has had been working on repairs using a star liner capsule on the ground now for weeks, and it won’t fix. No matter how many times they’ve tried. It looks like SpaceX or nothing.

But hey, Boeing has an engineer with green hair and piercings, so there’s that.


4 posted on 08/22/2024 1:53:31 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative. )
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To: george76
charlie
5 posted on 08/22/2024 2:00:34 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Pray for Peace in the world.)
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To: hinckley buzzard
Boeing and NASA clearly do not have the caliber of people who brought Apollo 13 back home.

Some true pioneer engineers back in the day....


6 posted on 08/22/2024 2:00:56 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: george76

Reminds me of the HBO show about the luxury spaceliner that gets diverted in a long path around the solar system, so a trip that was supposed to be a few weeks turns into a few years. And then the crew tries to gaslight all the passengers into thinking everything is fine.


7 posted on 08/22/2024 2:04:46 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: george76

DEI can lead to DIE.


8 posted on 08/22/2024 2:04:48 PM PDT by Carl Vehse
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To: george76
"Nappi says he regrets not doing a better job of managing expectations."

Maybe he should regret not doing a better job of building a quality spacecraft.

How was he supposed to "manage expectations"?

"Boss, I expect it to fail on orbit. If it doesn't fail and we get it back to earth in one piece, that will be an unexpected bonus! But don't be surprised when it fails."
He sounds like a typical whiny lib -- "we need to improve our messaging."
9 posted on 08/22/2024 2:10:14 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“When exposing a crime is treated like a crime, you are being ruled by criminals” – Edward Snowden)
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To: hinckley buzzard
But hey, Boeing has an engineer with green hair and piercings, so there’s that.

Lots of H1-b Visa holders too.

10 posted on 08/22/2024 2:14:44 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: hinckley buzzard

it is not the capsule that is the problem, its the service module that has the thruster issue and the helium leaks.


11 posted on 08/22/2024 2:27:12 PM PDT by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!)
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To: george76
Someone needs to sit down with reps from Boeing and NASA and ask them some specific questions.

What specificly is the problem? A leak, or a malfunction in the attitude jets? Or is it both? Did one cause the other or are they separate issues?

How about an EVA? Would visual inspection do any good? Do they have the tools to repair it?

If the issue(s) is resolved, do you have enough Helium left for return? Can it be refilled?

Is it true that the vehicle's software can't be programmed for unmanned reentry?

Is it true that you can't undock the capsule without someone being in it?

This is all stuff I read online. How much is true?

12 posted on 08/22/2024 2:31:55 PM PDT by ZOOKER
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To: ZOOKER

“The root cause behind the Starliner thruster failures”

hypergolic propellants

That seals fail to keep separated.


13 posted on 08/22/2024 2:34:11 PM PDT by linMcHlp
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To: george76

What did they tell the astronauts before they sent them up there?

I think we all know the answer.


14 posted on 08/22/2024 2:36:02 PM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: ZOOKER

Never ask professional liars questions—unless you already know the answers.


15 posted on 08/22/2024 2:37:29 PM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: george76

And to think we sent men to the moon and brought them home with nothing more than this technology. How far has this nation really fallen? An eight bit byte, just zeroes and ones.

When was Fortran 4 released?
Fortran - Wikipedia
FORTRAN IV was eventually released in 1962, first for the IBM 7030 (”Stretch”) computer, followed by versions for the IBM 7090, IBM 7094, and later for the IBM 1401 in 1966. By 1965, FORTRAN IV was supposed to be compliant with the standard being developed by the American Standards Association X3.


16 posted on 08/22/2024 2:38:02 PM PDT by kawhill (kawhill)
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To: hinckley buzzard

I was with a contractor assigned to crew systems during the Apollo/Soyuz and Skylab missions. When Skylab relived itself of one solar panel and about 1/2 of it’s insulation. It was all hands on deck. It didn’t have to be a open memo but the attitude was we didn’t care if you were a aerospace engineer or the janitor,all ideas and suggestions were valid and deserved consideration.


17 posted on 08/22/2024 2:42:54 PM PDT by Robe
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To: george76
Remember when NASA engineers had white shirts, skinny black ties and crew cuts?

Not saying we need to go back to that. My hair is long now but I would still wear a white shirt with skinny black tie.

18 posted on 08/22/2024 2:44:33 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (7,525,799 Truth | 87,979,589 Twitter)
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To: george76

America doesn’t have the “right stuff” anymore. Imagine what ‘60s NASA and the associated aerospace companies could have done with today’s technology? It’s the people who are failing the technology and the progress. Musk is the outlier.


19 posted on 08/22/2024 2:47:18 PM PDT by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: SamAdams76

I wore those white shirts and skinny black ties, it felt like I was in an exclusive club, when I first walked into Mission Control I felt I was on Hallowed ground, and I was!


20 posted on 08/22/2024 2:51:06 PM PDT by Robe
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