Boeing’s Crewed Starliner Undocking Was Just Delayed Indefinitely

What was originally planned to be around a week-long stay at the ISS has now been pushed back to an indefinite date. Late last night the agency made the decision to move off the June 26th departure date and are now working to figure out a possible return opportunity. Specifically, they want more time to review data related to the Helium leaks and thruster failures that occurred earlier in the mission.
While this helps teams gather data, Starliner only is rated for a total of 45 days docked to the station. That means that within the next few weeks, they either gather necessary data, deem the spacecraft safe, and send crew back to Earth on Starliner, or other options would be needed. As of right now, the agency is adamant that Starliner is safe and will soon bring the astronauts back home. Here I will go more in-depth into the new delay, what data the agency and Boeing are looking at, future departure opportunities, and more.
For more space-related content check out - thespacebucket.com/
Credit:
SpaceX - / spacex
NASA - / @nasa
Boeing - / @boeing
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:46 - Unknown Return Date

[@Nightscape_]

Why can't Boeing's engineers be as precise and efficient as their hitmen?

[@markkirby1131]

Brutal!!!

[@youtube-user73424]

😂

[@ltdees2362]

They're to busy giving their ceo a bonus...

[@andrewj22]

Boeing's response: We did a simple cost-benefit analysis. It turns out that engineers are a lot more expensive than a contract with Dollar General (who assured us they can build aircraft and spaceships). But, this cost savings must be accompanied by no greater than a slap-on-the-wrist penalty for the hundreds of people who are inevitably killed due the expected crashes. That's where the hitmen come in. For the kinds of profits we're talking about, the cost of a few hits provided by leaders in the assassination industry is a bargain.

[@DrKerbis]

Not bringing any spare underwear is starting to look like a bad idea...

[@dereks1264]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[@lanzer22]

Have they always been brown? Yes.

[@oldschoolman1444]

Isn't there an old saying about having clean underwear incase you get in a accident. Well they were clean when I put them on ! 😅

[@ghost307]

@@oldschoolman1444 Yep. They may have been clean begore the accident, but after the accident...not so much.

[@thomasdykstra100]

@@lanzer22 , waist-band says "Fruit of the Doomed"...

[@leschortos9196]

Don't worry about starliners future it has none...

[@GregiiFlieger]

I am sure any potential pilots are retiring…

[@realxman2000]

Demo-2 should not be raised as a comparison, it actually makes them look worse when you look at the details of Demo-2 and see how comparatively smooth it went. I am glad they are doing the review because egos need to be removed from the equation. They should also publicly request that Spacex get a Dragon prepped for launch ASAP. Even if they don't use it, they should prep it given the short window.

[@racookster]

Egos aren't nearly as significant in the equation as Boeing's stock prices are.

[@tristramsnowdon5256]

​@@racooksternailed it.

[@Paul_C]

@realxman2000 Hold on, seems to me you are going to look at it from the wrong end of the equation. You begin with the design, build, test, trouble shoot, redesign, then test again. That is standard procedure for any product, be that a razorblade or a space capsule. You think in a different way: Boeing is good, they do not make mistakes and everything is as it should be. Wrong attitude on your part: The first launch was a disaster in execution due to faults in part of the system. Now in the second launch more problems arose... That makes the SYSTEM itself questionable. Never mind what solutions are there. It seems a systemic failure...

[@marcelocoelho4107]

@@Paul_C The issue with modern NASA contracts in general was always the lack of testing, too much design time to little testing time, because test articles are "expensive", for something made to be human rated they should have had a lot more un-maned test, and more test vehicles, including destructive testing. Even worse when you consider LVs, with SLS as a whole pretty much having had no fully integrated test launches before it's first official one, because even tough that was considered a "test" launch, it still included a payload that needs to reach it's target and will delay the whole program otherwise, instead of a disposable dummy payload or a very low importance one that one would reasonable use in a "proper" test.

[@Oldman5261]

You are my favorite source for getting accurate unbiased and timely information on current space news. You simply would not believe how many space news channels have been bashing the Boeing Starliner mission with biased and inaccurate information recently. I promptly tell the KZbin algorithm to not show this garbage in my home feed again.

[@seantiz]

I won’t drive my car if a tire is leaking…

[@rudyriccio634]

The scary part is once the flight is over, the spacecraft will be declared operational

[@ThatOpalGuy]

all we need to do is train the crew on the MCAS system!

[@lanzer22]

Overwhelming success!

[@AeonExploration]

not really, it really does depend on the outcome

[@azonnoza]

In borat voice : Big Success, Yeah!

[@MeerkatADV]

Not really.

[@Spacejunkie13]

I hope Starliner comes back safe and sound. If NASA decides not to use Starliner for return, SpaceX has the Polaris mission crew dragon standing by for a rescue. What a mess!

[@SouthernRotors]

Yes and there is a Soyuz crew capsule up and I believe a Chinese capsure. It would be easy to take the docked Dragon with two crew and the starliner crew, drop down and send up another dragon remotely to dock with IIS for the other two dragon astronauts.

[@billtruttschel]

OMG, SpaceX coming to rescue people from the international space station would be epic! And it would be the ultimate form of embarrassment for Boeing.

[@davebowman6497]

​@SouthernRotors 1. There is no Chinese capsule docked to the ISS. China is not participating in the ISS partnership, but rather building their own space station in LEO. Currently docked to the ISS are two US passenger capsules (a Dragon and the Starliner), an American cargo module, a Russian Soyuz passenger capsule and two Russian resupply ships. There are currently nine astronauts/cosmonauts aboard the ISS. 2. If I recall correctly: The seats in the Soyuz capsules are individually moulded to fit a specific person. I'm not sure they can be used by another individual in case of an emergency. 3. In the current design of the (Crew) Dragon it has seats for four passengers. The Soyuz has seats for three (just barely, if they are neatly folded up😊). 4. When, a few years ago, a docked Soyuz failed and became unusable for return a personalized seat (called a "seat liner") for US astronaut Francisco Rubio was moved from the Soyuz to a docked Crew Dragon, increasing its capacity to five passengers as a contingency. Eventually the failed Soyuz was dumped and an empty Soyus launched and auto-docked to ISS (and Rubios seat liner transferred to that Soyuz).

[@seanmarshall7529]

@@davebowman6497 nice reply!!!!

[@whenlizardsfly]

@@billtruttschel its not "epic" for 2 astronauts to be stranded in space. its also not epic for the starliner to fail because that would put the entire artemis program in danger. no matter who you are and where you are from getting to the moon should be what is epic, not fantasizing about possibly fatal scenarios.

[@timothydraper137]

Boeing is an utter clusterfuck

[@gmarie701]

Yeah, but their woke leftist termite managers are implementing DEI faster than the federal government, so there is that.

[@jxpat]

The longer it's delayed, the better the chances for a SpaceX/Thunderbirds rescue.

[@ghost307]

Thunderbird 3 didn't have landing gear. I wonder if that's where Elon got the idea from.

[@wyattnoise]

Hope Elon sees this fan-fiction, champ.

[@ghost307]

@@wyattnoise It sounds like someone has volunteered to play the Hood.

[@SouthernRotors]

There is a dragon already docked there...

[@asjeot]

They would still need to send another one as there must be enough seats to account for all crew on the ISS.

[@brianw612]

Why the hell did they launch it in the first place when the knew there were leaks? Space shuttle SRB's were showing gasket burning long before the Challenger disaster, have they learned nothing?

[@GooseCow33]

The data both nasa, and starliner show leak was in Safety margin and thought it would fined mission but still critical data turned both were wrong. Same time it’s a test flight so refined detail has to be done.

[@tygerbyrn]

Boeing should be able to WIP* the Starliner into shape. *Work In Progress

[@tygerbyrn]

Eventually…

[@mbmurphy777]

Helium leak wasn’t serious. Thruster failures were unexpected.

[@GooseCow33]

@@mbmurphy777 this

[@imstevemcqueen]

It'll be years before we know how close a disaster was at hand when this piece of junk was launched

[@cafhead]

You are right

[@lanzer22]

Not until the current CEO get his 35M paycheck before leaving.

[@m0nke318]

Its a return to the shuttle era with how many issues that propped up

[@Yaivenov]

"It is safe!" says the same agency that actively prevented Colombia's heat shield from being photographed before reentry.

[@yhird]

The fact that there was a known helium leak before launch should have scrubbed the mission until the defect was fixed. It's no different than taking a sailboat on an ocean crossing that is taking on water and expecting everything to be ok. It is an incredibly poor and dangerous decision-making process.

[@JohnnyWednesday]

Not a great example I'm afraid. Nearly all ships take on water via leaks in the hull. That's what bilge water (mostly) is.

[@yhird]

@@JohnnyWednesday When I say, "taking on water", it is a layman's term which means water entering the boat in an uncontrolled manner. If I take the time to explain that in full, my comment would be very long. I am an American Sailing Association certified skipper.

[@_mikolaj_]

Its poor to call for a disaster without knowing severity(or in this case lack of it) of the problem...

[@yhird]

@@_mikolaj_ No one is calling for a disaster. That is your interpretation not mine. The fact is NASA has been in this situation before with two preventable Space Shuttle disasters and they have not learned their lesson. That is a grave problem. It is extremely unwise decision making to launch a vehicle into space with a known leak or defect. Once the vehicle leaves the pad, the crew has only their own resources onboard the vessel to fix problems. Space flight is dangerous enough business when you send a perfectly functioning vehicle into space, much less one that has known defects. That's crazy.

[@_mikolaj_]

@@yhird what im saying is you have poor understanding of the situation and overestimate the risks. First of helium leaks happen all the time, its the second smallest gas molecule out there even slight defect in hydraulic system will result in leakage, THATS WHY, spacecraft always carry a healthy margin of the gas, so that even if a small leaks occur it doesnt affect system performance. There have been plenty of launches with leaky helium systems in launch vehicles, and given this is a short duration testflight, not a 6 month operational mission, i can see why they chose to fly with it. Safety margins are insane. As for the faulty thruster, starliner has 28, only one is malfunctioning. It would be a slight problem on spacecrafts like dragon or Apollo, which have like 16 thrusters in total, but starliner has plentiful redundant thruster sets so it barely affects operations. Let me remind you, skylab 3 mission flew with 2 RCS blocks failed after reaching orbit, thats half of the 16 thrusters yet they still manage to complete the mission. Now as to why the return is delayed: well its quite simple, service module, which is problematic here, is expendable and engineers cant inspect it on the ground after flight, and its best to inspect it while its at the space station and run tests, so the delays arent an effect of any dangers but rather to gather more data about the anomalies before reentry and loss of the service module.

[@cloudk2088]

0 confidence

[@properfunny]

Just so people remember the Starliner spacesuits are not compatible with the SpaceX Dragon craft. SpaceX will need to make them spacesuits if they are going to comeback on a Dragon. I wouldn’t be surprised if SpaceX is not planning on making sure that suits are being rushed or that everyone has a suit in the future. I hope NASA can soon require a universal plug so any suit can be used in any craft.

[@chrisantoniou4366]

True, but flight suits are really only needed for emergencies. I would rather take my chances without a flight suit on a Dragon than witha flight suit on a Starliner...

[@GregiiFlieger]

They can carry spacesuits up on the Dragon….😮

[@daniel02dejesus]

Did anyone else notice how excited Suni Williams was to reach the ISS? Maybe it wasn't just about the accomplishment. The Boeing spacecraft had major issues with helium and thrusters! She must have been so relieved to arrive safely. Thoughts?😬

[@chrisantoniou4366]

Given that wasn't her first time in space... yes!

[@mtms42000]

That was so over the top it made me immediately dislike her.

[@damienkramer]

Oh come on, give her this one.

[@JohnnyWednesday]

@@mtms42000 - She's a scientist. They're total geeks. "Over the top" is listed on their character sheets.

[@WJSpies]

I agree.. she seemed inextricably happy. Coupled with the thruster issues now uncovered it seems there may have been some extraordinary problems involved before docking. They may have been hanging on by their fingernails at some point. Rendezvous and docking meant coming back alive and not marooned in space forever in a capsule un-spaceflight ready. They aren't about, or would be expected, to board an unsafe spacecraft back home. Boeing is trying to desperately fix it, or else just jettisoning it empty to automatically come back or possibly more likely burn up in the atmosphere trying to reenter it. It's a clusterfuck masked and cloaked as a science experiment. Boeing is not being honest with published status and details. Isn't it great that the hatch didn't blowout mid flight? (sarcasm)

[@dereks1264]

Boeing saying Starlemon is safe is like Boeing saying MCAS was a system that didn't require any additional pilot training. You simply can't trust Boeing even to give you the correct time.

[@chrisantoniou4366]

Or the correct date for Starliner's return... 😂

[@aeroflip97]

hope those 2 come back safely

[@SouthernRotors]

They will, 100% guaranteed, even if starliner lost. Do you know why? There is a dragon and a Soyez docked onto the iss right now...smh at these comments...

[@AeonExploration]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@SouthernRotors exactly, but not with soyuz. basically they can move SpX crew-9 up a bit and then launch it with only 2 crew. 2 people from ‘8 can stay a little big longer, assuming a shorter duration for ‘9, and get butch/suni down on ‘8 dragon

[@pantegministries]

Please don't return the crew on starliner

[@angryox3102]

I'm honestly surprised that they made it to ISS. I really don't think it's safe for them to try and return back in it.

[@edp2260]

"launched without a return date"? That don't sound good.... A one-way ticket?

[@av_kovko]

If the 45 days are over, you will need a rescue mission on the Dragon Crew ship.

[@SouthernRotors]

Learn your subject, there is a Dragon already docked there.

[@SpaceflightExplained]

@@SouthernRotors That Dragon capsule is for Crew-8, so while yes, that is an option to bring Butch and Suni home, they would also need a return ship for Crew-8.

[@richardrodgers1883]

@@SpaceflightExplained That should not be a problem if it means that two lives could be saved. Plus at least part of Crew 8 could still come home on it and only leave 2 of them to return on a new Dragon going up.

[@ProBallerJake2]

@@SouthernRotorsum you’re the one who doesn’t know what your talking about. That dragon is already spoken for

[@sokolum]

@@Gomtuthey are not compatible??

[@ltdees2362]

Boeing knew the damn thing was leaking before launch and now the problem has exacerbated to the point the astronauts lives are in danger if they return in the pos...I hope SpaceX is prepping the crew Dragon for a rescue...

[@adub1300]

No they’re not 😂 the data says otherwise.

[@robertmiranda2444]

Boeing strongly states that Starliner is safe! However were not bringing it back For Science.

[@adub1300]

The service module was never designed to survive reentry. You new around here?

[@robertmiranda2444]

@@adub1300 Everyone knows that, however the capsule has the same thrusters and after the service module is separated then the capsule thrusters are needed to make minor correction's. If the capsule thrusters develop problems then there's no second try at reentry. Perhaps your new and didn't know that.

[@Jasontrower-rundle]

Yeah those over the top safety margins we all complain about on the starship program are starting to make a lick of sense now aren't they?

[@mukamuka0]

This make me appreciate so much more on how smooth and clean SpaceX dragon test was perform

[@eleventy-seven]

In the name of safety, if the Starliner can land on its own as it did last time let the astronauts grab a ride on a Dragon as they hold 4.

[@frankfeng4728]

It is great that everyone is safe so far.

[@lifeinabox1]

The service module is the only real part that has had issues. It is jettisoned after undocking before reentry and burns up. Only chance to check and get more data is now. Nothing yet thst compromises safety. Makes sense to not disrupt ISS planned spacewalks. Butch and Sonny won’t be complaining about extra days is space.

[@fast-toast]

What if it fails to orientate itself correctly before reentry?

[@robertmiranda2444]

🤔 are the thrusters on the capsule different, if not how can they be sure capsule thrusters won't have problems during reentry. Way different that docking problems, you can't just cancel and float in space once reentry starts its Land or Burn.

[@ThatGuyKazz]

The service module is jettisoned after the deorbit burn though. If there are issues with it that prevent it from completing that deorbit that's a problem. It's also a problem if it fails to execute that burn precisely enough to not cause further danger to the crew. It could end up causing them to come in too steep in which case the capsule would burn up on re-entry or it could cause it to be too shallow in which case the capsule could skim off the upper atmosphere and end up taking much longer than expected to actually de-orbit and cause them to be wildly off their target landing zone. The capsule itself has some ability to correct it's trajectory after detaching the service module but that can only do so much and is intended to be more for attitude control than significant adjustments to the trajectory. So even with the faults being with just the service module there is still a potential worst case scenario that results in the loss of the crew depending on how bad those issues actually are and given the fact that they thought the issues pre-launch were less significant than they turned out to be it still seems like a big risk to try to bring Butch and Sonny home on this thing.

[@LegendLength]

@@fast-toast use the eject button

[@JohnnyWednesday]

@@LegendLength - Rookie move. Use the rewind button.

[@av_kovko]

Starliner can stay at the station until July 20 inclusive. The date will be announced two days before boarding, possibly at a teleconference.

[@wishiwasaneet26816]

Wonder if boeing will lobby to get "week" redefined to be about 40-60 days.

[@dansimpson6844]

Reset the clock to Elon Time.

[@SpaceflightExplained]

@@dansimpson6844 Elon time is 1/2 time, Boeing time is infinite!

[@chrisantoniou4366]

That would mean the Starliner is way ahead of time... 😂

[@michaelfink64]

I have no doubt that it will undock within the 45 day limit. The only question is whether it will come back with crew or without. Might be safer for Butch and Sunita to come back on another vehicle.

[@dissaid]

Thanks!

[@tonysu8860]

Thx, if all described is true then I can believe that a possible Starliner return wouldn't be reckless. But that would largely depend on the leaks limited to certain thrusters or systems that can be disabled safely and a more than sufficient reserves of helium for a safe return.

[@mbmurphy777]

They have dozens of thrusters, and the thruster question is on the service module which gets ejected before reentry and the capsule is going to be passively aerodynamically stable

[@JohnnyTalia]

"The crew response has been overwhelmingly positive." That's the public line, just like the claim that the thruster failures were not that serious. If the crew is fine with the possibility that they may have to face re-entry in a potentially crippled Starliner, either they have not been paying attention or they have been reduced from astronauts to expendable cheerleaders ordered to protect NASA's reputation and Boeing's profits. Yeah, let's keep them up there indefinitely and maybe the problem magically fixes itself.

[@chrisantoniou4366]

"The crew response has been overwhelmingly positive" translates to "The crew are so happy and relieved to get to the ISS because let's face it, the helium leaks and the thruster failures didn't inspire confidence, and they didn't do any "flying" on this thing, and let's also hope that they are still "overhwelmingly positive" about the Starliner after landing"...

[@ryelor123]

I don't think Boeing is going to be making more profits if they build a deathtrap that'll burn up in the atmosphere. The greediest of the greediest want the stuff they build to work.

[@user-iq2yp1dn1q]

Odd they would explicitly say indefinite given the few windows available why not announce the next one after the space walks and reschedule if not ready by then. They lost confidence.

[@GlutenEruption]

They didn't actually say indefinite - they only said they were “evaluating future return opportunities” after a scheduled spacewalk on July 2, but because the press releases for the last 3 delays included a specific date for the new planned undocking and this one didn't, it keeps getting misreported as "indefinitely" They said during the first press conference this starliner is capable of staying docked for 45 days, so that puts a hard limit at July 21st (actually July 20th due to ISS orbital track only giving a landing window every 4 days) as the very latest they could select for undocking and landing. They have 5 more windows between now and then.

[@chrisantoniou4366]

If the scheduled spacewalks were the real reason for postponing the return of Starliner, they could easily nominate a day for the return. It seems there are problems they aren't telling anyone about because even if the scheduled spacewalks were delayed, they could always change their return date and blame it on the spacewalks or take the opportunity to come home earlier.

[@adub1300]

Because people keep making a big to do about nothing when the departure date slips. So to shut you all up they said indefinitely.

[@kevikiru]

​@@adub1300 First, it's 'big ado about nothing'. Second, it's not. These issues raise serious questions about Boeing. It's not a small issue, because it brings into light technical problems.

[@GlutenEruption]

@@kevikiru not necessarily, NASA have stated repeatedly definitively that this is not a safety of flight issue, that starliner is still cleared for return at any point, and there is no foreseeable situation based on any indication where they won't be safely returning in starliner. The issue is that the service module where the issues are doesn't return to earth so they're is no ability to take it apart and analyze the failures after the mission so taking the time to explore, analyze and understand the problems as throughly as possible while on station is very important. There is no rush to get them back asap - they have 5 more reentry windows before starliner hits its 45 day docked life limit, so why jump the gun? I'd rather Boeing and nasa spend all the extra time they need to fully understand all aspects of the problem and any ramifications than to fall victim to the same kind of schedule and PR pressure and go fever to save face and not delay things again that led to challenger, etc. This isn't a GOOD thing obviously, and is another example of Boeing badly dropping the ball again and again, but the way they are handling it absolutely is.

[@Nomorsht]

The headline should BE "BOEING'S SCREWED STARLINER UNDOCKING WAS JUST DELAYED INDEFINITELY".😂😂😂😂😂

[@alanwang5066]

Boeing: It's not our problem, these two astronauts bought one-way tickets。

[@cbgardenmaryland]

the thrusters in question are on the part that burns in. So, the thrusters that failed last time, are not the ones that failed this time. how many of these RCTs were purchased and are installed?

[@terelhutto8604]

Stall Liner = late to launch & late to possibly return

[@tedsmith4353]

As of last week SpaceX has been working on a TRACTOR beam to remove NASA's space junk.

[@chrisantoniou4366]

Yes, but they can't test it because it would pull the Starliner off the ISS... 😂

[@tedsmith4353]

@@chrisantoniou4366 I wish it were true but U missed a F..g joke

[@chrisantoniou4366]

@@tedsmith4353 No I didn't, but I think YOU did... Read what I wrote again.

[@schizotitan662]

Starliner MAX strikes again!

[@gregknipe8772]

thank you

[@battyroy3894]

How many times did dragon dock before crew was sent?

[@AQDuck]

While I'm sure Starliner is safe "enough" to get them back, I still think they should send a Dragon over to get Suni and Butch back home even more safe. Last thing we need to hear is that the service module failed to detach or the heat shield is damage or something.

[@jemmrich]

Sounds like the spacewalks are actually to inspect starliner directly, they just don't want to publicly announce that yet.

[@michaeleddington5125]

Nope

[@ThatGuyKazz]

doubt it. Space walks aren't something that NASA just does on a whim. Spacewalks usually last 8-9 hours and that's not even counting the 6-7 hours of decompression and repressurization phases that happen inside an airlock. Besides that a spacewalk would be unlikely to give them any more information that they could obtain with a visual inspection that they can do with the Canadarm unless they are willing to start actually disassembling a spacecraft that as of now is still intended to fly astronauts back down to Earth which seems VERY unlikely.

[@ProBallerJake2]

These space walks have been planned and the details publicly disclosed prior to starliners launch. The issues with starliner would not visible from an EVA anyways

[@detoowang]

SEND THE DRAGON ALREADY!!

[@SouthernRotors]

Why would you send a Dragon? There is already one up there along with a Soyez Smh...

[@richardrodgers1883]

@@SouthernRotors As others have pointed out the Dragon that is there now is already booked so to speak for its crew and I don't know the status of passengers for the Soyuz, but if either of them took the Starliner crew home it would still require another ship to pick up the two they left. And that should not be a problem.

[@eddjordan2399]

despite all of this I'm still hoping they can get this capsule home safe. if Boeing kill 2 astronauts i think its game over for them ever building a crew capsule again.

[@SouthernRotors]

If Starliner was to kill two astronauts the company would implode, however, Starliner is a great platform. There are always small issues to work around. Boeing is catching flack because of the airplane issues. If they have a more serious issue there is a Dragon and a Soyuz up there right now that the two astronauts could tag along back on.

[@ryelor123]

I'm sure Boeing would survive. Lots of people have died inside their vehicles so its not like a couple more would be a major scandal.

[@davebowman6497]

​​@@SouthernRotorsIf the Starliner turns out to be unusable for return that would leave seven return seats (four in Dragon, three in Soyuz) for the nine persons currently onboard ISS. As I understand it, the strategy is to always have useable return seats for everyone on board to be able to evacuate without delay. Speculating a bit, I think the option taken if Starliner is considered unsafe for return will be to either do some "Apollo 13 magic" with the Dragon to take six passengers, or to launch another return vehicle ASAP. Most likely a Crew Dragon (which, yes, will be an embarrassment for Boeing). Right now I'm opting to believe the official NASA narrative: That they have reason for not disturbing other planned ISS activity that they have time to evaluate the Starliner problems further and that they and Boeing might learn more in order to eventually and hopefully clear Starliner fir "production flights". I also agree to your touching on "nothing extraordinary" (as far as we currently know). Testing new spacecraft (and aircraft, for that matter) almost always reveals flaws, misfunctions and failures. As long as the outcome isn't lethal, that is the first part of progress (failure-learning-correction, unknown potential failure-points are much worse than known failures etc etc). Yes, we should all await results of further analysis rather than jumping to conclusions.

[@adub1300]

@@SouthernRotorsthere is no room on either capsule for 2 additional astronauts. A new vehicle would have to be sent up which is not in the works. The data indicated that the capsule is safe enough to survive reentry. The issues are in the service module.

[@tonamg53]

@@adub1300The astronauts can stay up there indefinitely if they decided to ditch the Starliner.

[@EtzEchad]

They need to bring the crew home on Dragon. Risking the crew is unnecessary because they can bring the capsule home autonomously.

[@LegendLength]

Surely it was a bad idea to launch knowing there were small leaks?

[@DonaldWells-wk8dc]

Boeing shoulda reconditioned a rusty water heater tank😂

[@sokolum]

Incredible……..

[@NPRixix]

I suppose in the worst case scenario you could always send Dragon to take them back.

[@tjmackymac9228]

Boeing is about to schwack an astronaut. Starliner has been performing as planned while docked to ISS 😂😂😂

[@thomasdykstra100]

Is that Dennis Nedry at 1:38? Doesn't bode well for Suni and Butch...

[@chrisantoniou4366]

😂

[@theelephantintheroom69]

How does Starliner even hold a candle to SpaceX's Dragon capsule anymore? The Falcon 9 is mostly reusable making it cheaper and Dragon has been proven to work. It's as if they're giving Boeing a chance out of pity

[@JohnnyWednesday]

Starliner was designed to work with multiple launch vehicles including Falcon 9. The launch vehicle adapter is combined with an aeroskirt which allows Starliner to work with any rocket body with a smaller diameter. An adapter design exists for Falcon 9 (to keep NASA sweet) but I doubt Boeing has or will build one.

[@EdWeibe]

better start getting a taste for that astronaut ice cream. People probably putting in their two week notices.

[@Chef_PC]

Do Starliner and Dragon's docking ports connect? It's lucky that there's a Dragon docked at the station to rescue them, if necessary.

[@JCStaling]

SpaceX Dragon will have to launch a rescue mission to save the boeing astronauts! Love It!

[@lyricbread]

Go Starliar!

[@soulquesthealingmusic2307]

Seems Boeing Starliner was built by the same team as the Boeing 737 MAX series. I hope the Astronauts return safely, pray they return via a SpaceX rocket. That would be hilarious.

[@Clark-Mills]

A quick call to International-Rescue (AKA *SpaceX* ) will have the two stranded astronauts sorted.

[@SouthernRotors]

Ther eis a Dragon and a Soyuz currently docked @ iss, no need for a call.

[@angryox3102]

They're going to come home as passengers on a Crew Dragon or Soyuz.

[@bio-techlarry9602]

One of these info videos (don't remember which one) stated why NASA launched with a Helium leak...... Due to the leak being very small NASA didn't consider it to be mission critical. To repair the leak would mean disassembly of the helium system, thus having to deal with some of the toxic Hypergolic propellent which would have delayed the launch for several days maybe much longer.

[@ghost307]

The original NASA (the one that sent astronauts to the moon) would have scrubbed a flight of the space shuttle if the light in the refrigerator was out. 100% or we don't go. Finding 1 problem doesn't mean that we found the only problem.

[@angelarch5352]

they should delay until the next Dragon docks, and then spaceX can taxi the astronauts back safely. the starliner can return on autopilot without risking human pilots

[@jeremynewman377]

they said earlier this morning they will try 1 more time on July 2nd to bring it home

[@chrisantoniou4366]

If they're only going to "try one more time", what's the back up plan?

[@theAverageJoe25]

Boeing: has multiple quality control problems and a recent history of fatal design flaws. NASA: gives Boeing a contract to build spacecraft which then has quality control issues and doesn’t work right. NASA: Surprised Pikachu face

[@professorg8383]

Thank you for a precise update without a bunch of opinion and Musk fanboy gloating like so many of the spaceX propaganda channels. No clickbait headlines or any of that nonsense! Keep up the good work!

[@varukasalt]

What an absolute train wreck. We need to stop wasting money on this disaster.

[@jtjames79]

Trainwrecks don't want to be associated with Boeing at this point.

[@Nonya_Concern]

​@@jtjames79 damn lol 😅

[@josephpeluchette191]

Facts

[@wyattnoise]

The entire NASA budget, including subsidies for your previous SpaceX makes up less than 1% of the U.S. military budget...

[@lodrezzon]

And to think, in the 60s, we were sending people to the moon all the time; using computers less powerful than a modern day watch. Too bad the NASA scientists actually destroyed every single design plan and mission report from the Apollo space flight development program by accident. They could have helped out right about now. And if you believe that load of crap, I have some swampland in Florida for only 1.2 million a quarter acre you'd be crazy to pass up.

[@Afterburner]

Gee - they should have just pulled out the Apollo blueprints and built off of those - lol.

[@memadmax69]

Crewed Dragon to the rescue.

[@gram1915]

why take any chances!!??

[@kenefdz]

So, using NASA logic, if my car battery is dead, I can tell people that my car is working fine while parked on my driveway???

[@asjeot]

Yes.

[@heyaisdabomb]

No, you can say your car is performing well while parked in your driveway 🤣

[@NarleyAdventures]

@@heyaisdabomb 🤣 Exactly....

[@chrisantoniou4366]

@@Gomtu They are masters of the Weasel Words...

[@ghost307]

More accurately if your battery cranks your engine so slowly that it's a miracle that the car starts at all, there's no need to replace it.

[@briantii]

The silly part about this is that there can only be a handful of Starliner flights as the Atlas V it uses has RUSSIAN engines and once they are gone, they’re gone. At this point it’s a lot of hassle for 6 flights or whatever.

[@jerrym995]

I’DE say sorry I’ll wait for spacex

[@adarret]

So this would be the second time they’ve had issues with the disposable part of Starliner… 🤔

[@perauto]

Not sure I'd want to come back on Starliner.

[@GregiiFlieger]

5 billion death trap? The stranded must be having a stressful time regardless…

[@ryelor123]

Hopefully they don't burn up in the atmosphere.

[@GrapeFlavoredAntifreeze]

Who could have predicted this!

[@huangzongming8226]

Need to replenish the food supply if they are stuck there.

[@WJSpies]

Until these leaks and thruster issues are resolved, no future astronaut is likely to board the Starliner into orbital space flight. I think Boeing is praying for a miracle fix up there before releasing it with astronauts aboad. It's a wonder the hatch didn't blowout on them mid-flight. I hope they're keeping the regular ISS hatch door closed in between episodes of trying to repair the broken Starliner. Hey, what's that persistent hissing sound? 🤔😵

[@Thebackson]

It is going to be very embarrassing for boeing if SpaceX has to send up an empty crew capsule to rescue the astronauts.

[@ryelor123]

Its probably a big headache since you have people trained on one system having to get a crash course on the other.

[@Thebackson]

@@ryelor123 Yeah not that big of a headache since the SpaceX capsule can do everything without any crew. The safety of the crew might be more important than the training.

[@speedymccreedy8785]

Everything is fine. The astronauts have copies of Hitchhiker's Guide to Boeing.

[@paulmiller6277]

Why anyone would want to fly on a Boeing made capsule ?

[@brianicia]

That is a lot of PR wording. Just bring home the astronauts safely.

[@JW-jl8iq]

Spaceex rescue dudes. Get them up there

[@michaelreid2329]

Just tell us that Boeing will not launch another Starliner until they have recognised the cause and corrections to the Starliner and the service module. How they disassemble and inspect the used service module is a challenge for Boeing.

[@darrelneese5676]

The service module is jettisoned in the atmosphere and burns up. They can’t troubleshoot it after the fact.

[@michaelreid2329]

@@darrelneese5676 my point being that they need to recover it, such as an aeroshell braking canopy, but hey, Boeing is the space experts. Not having delivered contracted services means they have to pay back the money they had received for this service.

[@GabroPlayz]

Yeah I don't think Starliner is going anywhere anytime soon. SpaceX will have to send one of their Dragons out.

[@SouthernRotors]

If you knew what you were speaking of you would know there is already a Dragon and a Soyuz docked right now.... Learn your subject!

[@dylandoherty4642]

We are watching a disaster in real-time

[@user-ow4oj1wk2o]

The crew is not coming back alive on that thing... better to wait for the next SpaceX vessel.

[@doltsbane]

Probably a wise choice not departing on June 26th, given how much life support capacity the capsule has left. If they had undocked then the crew would be asphyxiating on the Fourth of July, and that would be really embarrassing in an election year.

[@SouthernRotors]

No one is in harms ways, there is a Dragon and a Soyuz docked as well speak...

[@SamWeidman-vo6rp]

I wonder if they will ever fly starliner again

[@leefletcher7527]

One of the problems I see is design. The Starliner isn't designed for maintenance. They have to dismantle this to get at that, troubleshooting is difficult and uncertain. Boeing should have designed it like a commercial aircraft, not an expendable probe.

[@ghost307]

Agreed. Imagine if fixing a stuck door on Star Trek involved taking the Enterprise completely apart.

[@leefletcher7527]

@@ghost307 The strange part is that Boeing has that expertise. They make commercial and military aircraft where turnaround time matters. You can pull a jet engine or replace a Line Replaceable Module in hours or less, not weeks.

[@1234zz]

And they make airplanes too thats the scary thing

[@MrJohn49g]

It was built by Boeing, I'm surprised that it made it up there in one piece.

[@michaelchancey5505]

I think they're going to leave the decision to return up to the US Supreme Court?

[@conard5381]

I have a perfect idea leave the Starliner docked to the space station about this time next year starship will be ready for it’s first mission Have starship go to the space station load Starliner up and bring it back to earth as a bonus Starship could make a landing at the nearest junk yard and drop off Starliner for recycling Then lift off and land at Starbase.

[@Pitviper1979]

I am not shocked at all.