Is Boeing a perfect metaphor for the Establishment in America?

The question answers itself. Boeing is bloated, incompetent, expensive, and is happy to put others' lives at risk as long as they can rake in the big bucks and be handed golden parachutes. Nobody is responsible for anything, and when things go tits up, others pay the price. 

Despite all the failures, does anybody doubt that Boeing will be considered "too big to fail" if it gets in real trouble? I sure don't, which means Boeing can fail spectacularly without consequences, and it has been. 

A final decision has not been made, but I now believe it is more likely than not that Starliner's crew returns on Dragon. I asked NASA about this and their reply was not a denial, but rather, "we're evaluating all options." Story:https://t.co/MazPtCjyIO

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) August 1, 2024

Boeing's Starliner has been an unmitigated disaster. It cost taxpayers nearly twice as much to develop, costs nearly (or more than) twice as much to fly, is years behind schedule, has faced one problem after another, and has stranded astronauts in space for months as NASA and Boeing try to figure out whether it is safe to fly home.

NASA has been making contingency plans to possibly use Space Dragon to rescue the astronauts, although there are political reasons to avoid the drastic move--at least before the election. Safety concerns may override political ones, and at this point they likely will, despite this administration not wanting to hurt Boeing or, especially, make Elon Musk look good. 

Don't be naive. You can take it to the bank that the Biden administration wants to avoid helping Elon look good. NASA may not care, but the politicos care quite a bit. 

One week ago, the last time NASA officials spoke to the media, the agency's program manager for commercial crew, Steve Stich, would not be drawn into discussing what would happen should NASA conclude that Starliner's thrusters were not reliable enough for the return journey to Earth.

“Our prime option is to complete the mission," Stich said one week ago. "There are a lot of good reasons to complete this mission and bring Butch and Suni home on Starliner. Starliner was designed, as a spacecraft, to have the crew in the cockpit."

For a long time, it seemed almost certain that the astronauts would return to Earth inside Starliner. However, there has been a lot of recent activity at NASA, Boeing, and SpaceX that suggests that Wilmore and Williams could come home aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft rather than Starliner. Due to the critical importance of this mission, Ars is sharing what we know as of Thursday afternoon.

One informed source said it was greater than a 50-50 chance that the crew would come back on Dragon. Another source said it was significantly more likely than not they would. To be clear, NASA has not made a final decision. This probably will not happen until at least next week. It is likely that Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator, will make the call.

NASA has underplayed the problematic position in which astronauts have been put. While there is likely no danger to the astronauts, they were neither prepared to stay for this long, nor were normal provisions such as extra clothes and personal supplies sent up with them. They were only supposed to be there for days, not months. 

Before Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams took off for the International Space Station in early June, NASA removed some of their suitcases from their Boeing-made spacecraft. The ISS was in urgent need of a new pump for the system that recycles urine into water, so the personal items had to go. There’s no laundry on the ISS, but no matter. For their inaugural mission on Boeing’s Starliner, Butch and Suni, as the astronauts are known, were planning to stay on the space station for only about a week.

But one week turned into another, and then another, and then seven. Before Starliner launched, NASA had set a 45-day deadline for keeping the spacecraft in orbit for the sake of the capsule’s batteries, which hadn’t been tested in space yet. Today is day 48. According to NASA officials, the batteries are still performing well, and Starliner could remain docked to the space station as late as mid-August while the agency and its aerospace contractor troubleshoot issues with the spacecraft. SpaceX has been successfully shuttling astronauts to ISS for four years, and NASA badly wants a second option. But this historic mission—the first time Boeing has ever flown NASA astronauts—has turned into a debacle.

NASA and Boeing have been soft-pedaling the problems and no doubt desperately want to use the Starliner to bring the astronauts home. Nobody wants to admit that Boeing can't do anything right anymore and they want the money spigots to stay open. And, of course, nobody wants to accept responsibility for this boondoggle, although I fail to see why not. If you work for the United States government or its contractors you can even get a once and future president shot, another person murdered, two others critically injured, and still have your pay, perks, and retirement assured. 

You can even have arranged it all and get a promotion, as Director Rowe did. 

You need to be a conservative to get fired or even stained if you fail. 

We used to be a proper country:

Stranded US Astronauts Return From Space Still in Limbo

NASA & Boeing still haven’t set a return date for the aerospace firm’s Boeing CST-100 Starliner space taxi currently docked at the International Space Station, adding to growing uncertainty… https://t.co/fYRBV2OrMO pic.twitter.com/gaF7YYFrGk

— Prodigal (@ProdigalThe3rd) July 28, 2024

Still, this can't go on forever since NASA has to send up new supplies, and there are no more docks for SpaceX Dragon's craft to use, so Starliner has to leave soon. However, I wouldn't put it past NASA and the Biden administration to prefer a Russian Soyuz return than to give Elon Musk so big a win. 

We'll see. Help Russia to hurt Elon Musk. It's a tough call for these folks, I bet. Or I am too cynical? Or not enough? These days I can't tell, but we know for sure that NASA is protecting Boeing. 

That sort of obfuscation forces observers to read between the lines. It’s not unreasonable to conclude that NASA believes bringing the astronauts home before they’ve raked Starliner with a fine-tooth comb is simply too risky right now. “Of course they don’t feel comfortable putting them in the vehicle,” a retired NASA astronaut told me, speaking on condition of anonymity so that he could be candid. “Otherwise they would have put them in it already.”

Maybe officials worry that admitting outright that a return journey is currently too risky would fuel more sensationalist coverage. Or perhaps NASA leaders want to protect Boeing. After all, they plan to fly more crews on Starliner, and any hint of frustration from the space agency could erode public trust in its already troubled contractor.

It's not quite true that the astronauts are "stranded." They can be brought home, but perhaps not on Starliner. Elon Musk could save them or even the Russians. 

But Starliner is unsafe. It likely could return home with no issues, but the risks are higher than necessary. NASA could do it and escape even more disaster, but it would be an unnecessary gamble. 

Chances are that the astronauts would be up for it, but they are astronauts. They are up for anything. You have to be a little nuts to ride a controlled explosion to a tin can and live in cramped quarters that could be destroyed by space debris at a moment's notice, after all. I salute them for their courage, but I wouldn't want to emulate them. And NASA shouldn't unnecessarily risk their lives to protect Boeing. 

In short, this is a monumental failure of a project, and a perfect example of a government that can do nothing right. It is the Establishment exemplified. 

And nobody in power cares.