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NASA decides to keep 2 astronauts in space until February, nixes return on troubled Boeing capsule (apnews.com)

submitted 2 months ago by teft@lemmy.world to c/spaceflight@sh.itjust.works

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[–] voluble@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The helium leaks on the RCS thrusters were a known problem before the Crew Flight Test, and Boeing gave assurances to NASA that the leaks wouldn't be problematic. What were those assurances based on? I don't know much about spaceflight, but it seems crazy to me that CFT was allowed to launch when there was a known issue that could impact docking and undocking with the ISS, and possibly deprive the capsule of a backup means of orienting for deorbit.

A person has to wonder - did Boeing's desire for a commercial success, at any point, impact their assessments of Starliner's safety? Is it possible that running this project at a set price was an impediment to proper, timely, and safe development?

[–] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago

nah the problem wasn't the helium leaks, it's overheating of the thrusters