Source: Privy Council No. 10
The two American astronauts who were trapped on the International Space Station aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft have become a global laughing stock. Ironically, NASA and Boeing are not in a hurry to find a way to get them next, but are busy waging a war of public opinion, trying to change the outside world's doubts - "American astronauts are not trapped", and even comparing this incident with the thrilling experience of the Apollo 13 manned spacecraft back then, taking the opportunity to advocate the power of American space......
Isn't this a proper "funeral celebration".
The "Starliner" spacecraft has stayed in space for so long, and its old background has long been figured out by the media of various countries. As a national team with high hopes from NASA, Boeing originally hoped that the "Starliner" spacecraft could become the main means of transportation to and from the International Space Station to replace the space shuttle and maintain the United States to and from the International Space Station. But as everyone knows, the manned "Dragon" spacecraft of the US SpaceX company has been killed halfway and has become the main manned spacecraft of the current NASA, while the "Starliner" spacecraft has seriously lagged behind due to a series of catastrophic accidents.
It was against this background that the Starliner spacecraft began its first manned flight. In fact, it can be seen from the post-mortem statement of Steve Steich, manager of NASA's commercial manned space program, that the "Starliner" spacecraft simply took off sick. In the second unmanned flight test conducted in May 2022, the Starliner spacecraft was exposed to many software problems and some aircraft thruster failures. Prior to this launch, the spacecraft had also been postponed due to a helium leak. Speaking at a June 6 press conference, Stich admitted that engineers most likely didn't quite solve the problem, "and I think we're ignoring some of the fundamental phenomena that are happening inside the thrusters."
As a result of the sick work, the "Starliner" spacecraft had five helium leaks during its flight to the International Space Station, four of which occurred during the docking of the spacecraft with the space station; In addition, the spacecraft's five backward thrusters also failed to operate as expected when approaching the space station. NASA and Boeing admit that ground engineers have yet to figure out what caused the failures.
Obviously, the "starliner" spacecraft, which is leaking air and its thrusters failing, is not suitable for manned flights at all, and NASA and Boeing are also well aware of this, and have repeatedly postponed the return time of the spacecraft - according to the original plan, the spacecraft was supposed to stay on the International Space Station for only 8 days, but now 3 weeks have passed, and the return time given by NASA has become "uncertain". Daniel Dunbach, CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, also said: "We are not in a hurry to go home. ”
However, at a press conference on June 28, NASA and Boeing tried their best to instill a "concept" in the American media -- "American astronauts are not trapped", and the reason why they did not come back was because the craftsmanship of American aerospace had attacked, and they must find out what went wrong with the spacecraft in space.
According to them, the failed thrusters and helium lines are located in the ship's service module, which is designed to be abandoned and burned up when the spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere, at which point engineers will not be able to determine the specific cause of the failure, so they will have to wait for the spacecraft to dock at the ISS to find out the problem. There are also reports of the thrilling experience of NASA working closely with astronauts to return the spacecraft to Earth safely after the explosion of the Apollo 13 manned spacecraft in space, and compared the space journey of the "Starliner" spacecraft to it.
But in the eyes of the old driver, if the accidental explosion of Apollo 13 was somewhat of a natural disaster, then this "starliner" spacecraft was a man-made accident at all. In fact, NASA and Boeing's statements show that they are careless about the safety of astronauts – for example, when it comes to helium leaks, Stich said that even if there are known leaks, the spacecraft stores 10 times as much helium as it would need to return to Earth, so "don't worry too much." He also previously said that the biggest problem with the long stay of the "starliner" in space is that the battery life is 45 days, and if it stays for 90 days, it needs to find a way to extend its use. But his latest statement changed his tune, saying that the spacecraft remained charged when it docked to the space station, so the battery's operating state after 90 days should not be affected.
These important technical details related to the safety of the spacecraft are so casual in the mouths of NASA officials......
In fact, if you really want to ensure the safety of astronauts, the most reliable way is to let the overhauled spacecraft return to Earth on its own - anyway, its main test items have been basically completed, so that if there are any more moths on the return journey, at least it will not affect the personal safety of the two astronauts. As for what to do with these two astronauts, it is actually very simple - at present, the International Space Station is docked with another manned "Dragon" spacecraft, which can theoretically carry 7 astronauts, but currently only 4 people are actually carried, so there is enough space to accommodate two astronauts on the "starliner".
But so far, Boeing has done nothing about it – for the simple reason that according to the agreement signed between Boeing and NASA, the Starliner spacecraft will need to complete six space pick-up missions before the International Space Station is decommissioned, and all additional costs incurred during this period will have to be borne by Boeing itself. Boeing has lost more than $1 billion due to severe delays and a series of failures in the Starliner spacecraft. If the two astronauts on board the "Starliner" spacecraft return to the manned "Dragon" spacecraft instead, it will not only deal a fatal blow to the crumbling reputation of "Made in Boeing," but will also the huge cost of this manned flight be wasted?