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After months of mulling, NASA will decide on Starliner return this weekend (arstechnica.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/spaceflight

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago (2 children)

There's no way they ride Starliner back, right? If there still isn't a consensus about the vehcile safety, then one more day and an updated model shouldn't change much.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I don't know, but if I was one of those stranded astronauts and NASA told me to get back in that crate I'd be telling them to go fuck themselves right quick.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I actually wonder if the test pilots would be more willing to ride it back than NASA would be to let them. If Boeing can't get the autonomous return to work soon and the astronauts think they can take her down gingerly and feather the controls or something...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

I dunno, there's only so much a pilot can do while screaming down through the atmosphere in a ball of fire.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

This is how I feel. This is a wonderful moment where a switch to Dragon is easy and safe. Starliner is probably fine, but Dragon is clearly safer right now. Who cares about ISS scheduling changes and modified Starliner certification requirements?

I just checked prediction markets and they seem to think Starliner has a 20-30% chance. I think that's way too high.

[–] ViperActual 3 points 4 months ago

I'm still doubtful they will return on Starliner. After all the issues they've discovered since delaying the vehicle's return, it seems like returning on Crew Dragon would simply be the safest option at this point. Political optics be damned, the crew isn't expendable.