Boeing's "Starliner" has been postponed again, what should I do if the astronauts on the International Space Station can't return home?
This question is deeply troubling not only for Boeing, but also for NASA!
For NASA, the choice of Boeing as the second manned spacecraft supplier was originally to have one more choice, but I didn't expect Boeing to be so useless.
So how should American astronauts stranded in space return to Earth?
Let's find out!
1. The "Starliner" that has always had technical defects
Boeing is the quintessential representative of the U.S. military-industrial complex, in the U.S., where the gold dollar influences politics, and when it gains the right to speak, politics in turn chases profits.
This is true of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as the problematic Boeing "Starliner"!
To tell the truth, Boeing's "Starliner" is really not as good as Musk's "Dragon spacecraft", as we can see from the frequent situation before the launch of the "Starliner".
Boeing knows this, and NASA knows it too.
But even so, the "starliner" risked going into the sky, and what happened as a result? Two NASA astronauts can't come back!
The technology is not good, it is useless to say anything, although this is the first time that Boeing has carried out a manned launch mission, but before this mission, Boeing's Starliner was constantly in trouble.
Take the helium leakage problem as an example, it has been discovered before, but when it comes to the official launch, it still has not been solved.
Repeated postponements, this kind of thing made Boeing lose face, and the most important thing is that it put Boeing at a disadvantage in the competition with Musk, no matter what, the "Starliner" was finally launched, but the next thing became uncontrollable.
Obviously, the technical failure of the "starliner" has exceeded the scope of Boeing's ability, and now that the astronauts are staying on the space station for longer and longer, and are about to exceed the 45-day stay limit, what will Boeing do next?
Four helium leaks, five thruster failures, these problems would be good to say if they were discovered before launch, but it is too late to say anything now.
Now the problems faced by the "starliner" are more serious and deadlier than the other.
The main reason why the "starliner" has been postponed many times is because the fault is not repaired, and if these problems cannot be solved, the astronauts will be forcibly boarded, and then this trip home is likely to become a journey of death.
This time, the astronauts took off on a "starliner", and they signed a contract, as Boeing's first manned mission, this time the mission was mainly based on testing.
In other words, the mission itself is very dangerous, and the astronauts are aware of this.
Now NASA hopes that the "Starliner" can succeed, and at the same time does not want the astronauts to have an accident, Boeing must want to repair the "Starliner", but even if the problem is fixed, Boeing cannot guarantee that the "Starliner" will not have problems when it returns to Earth.
So the astronauts are faced with a very awkward situation, they can't go, they don't go.
The "Starliner" has been postponed many times, which shows that its problems are serious, and now it seems that there are only two solutions!
One is that Boeing chose to forcibly return to Earth, and the other is that Boeing abandoned this "starliner", and NASA asked Musk's Dragon spacecraft to pick up people.
2. Musk may become the biggest winner
When Boeing launched the "Starliner", the most annoyed person must be Musk, you must know that before that, all NASA's manned orders were his, and now these orders have been distributed to Boeing.
So when there is a problem with the "starliner", then the happiest must be Musk.
There is no harm if there is no comparison, and the "clumsy" performance of the "starliner" further highlights the excellence of the Musk Dragon spacecraft.
Now, the Boeing "Starliner" has been postponed indefinitely, and it is unknown when it will return and whether it will return.
NASA has to consider both its own image and the safety of astronauts, so NASA must have a plan B, so this plan is most likely the Dragon spacecraft.
In fact, the U.S. manned space program has been outsourced since 2011, and at the beginning, the U.S. commercial space flight was not very perfect, so at that time, U.S. astronauts could only use Russian manned spacecraft.
Later, Musk's "Dragon spaceship" appeared, and what many people didn't know was that in fact, at that time, Boeing was Musk's opponent.
At that time, the technology of the "Dragon spacecraft" was greatly superior to that of the "starliner", and NASA's manned missions became the exclusive business of the "Dragon spacecraft".
Whether it is the political correctness of American spaceflight, or NASA's fear of being one big one, in fact, "starliners" have always been within NASA's range of alternatives.
In other words, under the influence of the military-industrial complex, Boeing has always had a chance, as long as the technology of the "Starliner" matures, then Boeing can get a piece of the pie.
I have to say that American aerospace is really interesting, and there is no need for more mature, safer, and more cost-effective solutions, NASA prefers to use the problematic Boeing's "starliner", and the most important thing is that they even use the lives of astronauts for testing.
You must know that when this "starliner" was launched, there was a fatal problem such as thruster failure and docking failure of the International Space Station.
At present, the astronauts on the "Starliner" will stay on the space station for a maximum of 45 days, and if this time is exceeded, then the problem is serious.
The current situation is that Boeing is also not sure to bring the two astronauts home, so they can only ask Musk for help, of course, in addition to Musk, NASA has another option, and that is the Russian manned spacecraft.
But considering the tensions between the United States and Russia, I believe that NASA will not bow to Russia if it is killed.
Another point is also very interesting, saying that the rocket used by Boeing to launch the "Starliner" is the American "Atlas V", although this rocket is said to be made in the United States, but the engine it uses is Russian.
To put it simply, Boeing's rocket engine technology is not good, so it can only choose to buy, after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States began to try to completely cut with Russia, and now it seems that in addition to some key commodities such as nuclear fuel, the United States has begun to look for new sellers, obviously rocket engines are also among them.
The engines of the Boeing rocket are now in stock, and when the stock is used up, if the Boeing rocket engine technology has not yet broken through, then then it will be the time when Boeing is really in trouble!
Seeing the big trouble of the Boeing "Starliner", what do you think about it, welcome to leave a message in the comment area and tell us your opinion!