NASA Fears Another Tragedy If Astronauts Return on Starliner

[Judi Lynn]

NASA doesn't want another Challenger or Columbia disaster on its hands.

Aug 23, 9:53 AM EDT
by Victor Tangermann

NASA is expected to finally come to a decision on what to do with its two stranded astronauts this weekend, but its option of returning them on Boeing's troubled Starliner is starting to look less and less likely.

The agency has scheduled a Flight Readiness Review for Saturday, after which it's expected to announce whether Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will return on Boeing's plagued spacecraft — or hitch a ride on a SpaceX Crew Dragon in February, extending an originally planned eight-day stay into an eight-month odyssey.

While the latter option should more or less be a routine mission for NASA at this point — Crew Dragon spacecraft have visited the International Space Station close to a dozen times over the last four years — opting for Boeing's alternative for reentry could make for a far more harrowing journey.

As the Washington Post reports, NASA has changed its tune considerably over the last couple of weeks, with officials going from repeatedly claiming they had "confidence" in Boeing's much-maligned spacecraft to publicly discussing alternative methods of reentry with the help of SpaceX.

More:
https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-fears-tragedy-astronauts-return-starliner

[Judi Lynn]

1. NASA Clown Car Plan Would Stuff Extra Astronauts Into SpaceX Capsule to Avoid Return Journey in Disastrous Boeing Starli

NASA Clown Car Plan Would Stuff Extra Astronauts Into SpaceX Capsule to Avoid Return Journey in Disastrous Boeing Starliner

NASA is willing to get creative.

Aug 8, 8:35 AM EDT by Victor Tangermann

NASA still hasn't decided whether to send its two stranded astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, back from the International Space Station on board Boeing's plagued Starliner. The pair's trip to the orbital outpost has repeatedly been extended thanks to glaring technical issues affecting Starliner's propulsion system.

For now, NASA is keeping all of its options open as it studies several contingency plans. Perhaps the most discussed plan is to have Wilmore and Williams return on board SpaceX's Crew-9 spacecraft early next year.

But in case things didn't go according to plan, NASA has also been considering a far more eccentric option: stuffing Wilmore and Williams into SpaceX's already fully occupied Crew-8 spacecraft, which delivered a crew of four to the ISS in early March and is still currently docked to the ISS alongside the troubled Starliner.

"We have a task order in place to allow up to three crew members on the cargo pallet using the foam configuration in the Crew-8 Dragon," the head of NASA's commercial crew program Steve Stich revealed during a conference call today.

More:
https://futurism.com/nasa-stuff-extra-astronauts-spacex-starliner

[wackadoo wabbit]

2. It's unfortunate that space travel is being outsourced to corporations, . . .

which are more interested in turning a profit than the safety of astronauts.

Personally, I wouldn't feel safe riding on either a Boeing or a Musk rocket.