Stranded Astronauts Will Return To Earth On SpaceX Craft, NASA Announces

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JUST IN: Stranded Astronauts Will Return To Earth On SpaceX Craft, NASA Announces

Trending Politics
Cullen McCue
August 24, 2024

NASA will be turning to Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring home two astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station since early June after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft suffered several malfunctions mid-flight, the agency announced Saturday.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be hitching a ride back to earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule rather than the Boeing craft. The decision comes after months of much public speculation and concern over the astronauts’ status, as well as inter-agency conflicts concerning the return mission. The initial mission was expected to last just eight days.

“Spaceflight is risky — even at its safest and even at its most routine — and a test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine, and so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Saturday at a news briefing.

The Starliner saga has provided a major setback for Boeing’s space ambitions, as the company spent years developing the craft before the unsuccessful mission even took place. Even before the June launch, the Starliner was already $1.5 billion over budget and years behind schedule.

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Government can never compete with private industry ... no matter what the project is.

[Timber Rattler]

I wonder what Gene Kranz, Gerry Griffin, and John Aaron think about all this?

[mountaineer]

But NASA is woke and equitable,  so all is well. 

[Hoodat]

Government can never compete with private industry ... no matter what the project is.

To their credit, a higher-up at NASA resisted settling on one vendor, choosing instead to allow competition to remain open between Boeing and SpaceX.  Without that, Boeing would have been awarded the full contract ten years ago, and there would be no SpaceX today.

Boeing collected close to $5 billion in taxpayer funds over the duration of this project.  But looks like it may soon hit a dead end.

SpaceX got just over half the  funding that Boeing received.  Yet they got 'er done.  They deserve tremendous accolades.  But so does that one NASA bureaucrat who kept the door open for them.

[Smokin Joe]

But NASA is woke and equitable,  so all is well. 

But how do they connect all those nonbinary wiring harnesses and bits of tubing?

Will referring to 'male' and 'female' connectors, even 'righty tighty, lefty loosie' get you sent to HR and a reeducation sensitivity seminar?