NASA and Boeing feud over how to bring astronauts home

[New Sancai Compilation First Release] According to a report from the New York Post on August 30, senior executives from Boeing and NASA had a series of intense conversations, which ultimately evolved into how to best solve the problem of being trapped in the international An argument brought home by two astronauts on the space station.

Senior employees from both companies attended the meeting, which took place just days after NASA announced that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams would not be able to return to Earth.

According to reports, Boeing argued that the "Starliner" was in good condition and could return safely, but NASA strongly objected. A NASA executive told the Washington Post, "The thinking is that Boeing is very irresponsible."

NASA ultimately rejected Boeing's request and arranged for Elon Musk's Space X to bring astronauts back to Earth. But that mission won't happen until February 2025. Astronauts have now spent more than 80 days in space.

NASA told The Washington Post that Boeing was not satisfied with the solution, adding, "They made that clear to us. But if a catastrophic failure occurs, what's the headline? Not 'Boeing kills' Killed two astronauts", but "NASA killed two astronauts" So no, it's better to be safe than sorry.

On June 5, 2024, astronauts lifted off on the first manned mission of Boeing Starliner and stayed at the space station for eight days. They soon discovered that a previously known helium leak was much more serious than they thought, and that the leak was causing the thrusters to malfunction.

The Starliner accident is just the latest in a series of problems that have plagued Boeing in recent years.

In January 2024, a door panel of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet was blown off while it was in the air. Nearly two dozen whistleblowers have come forward to express concerns about the company's safety and quality problems, at least two of whom have died.

(Compiled by: Wang Jimin)

(Editor: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)