this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2024
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Because Boeing has evidently become a βsafety thirdβ sort of company over the last several decades
Better question is, why did NASA let them
Probably because they were contractually obligated. Nasa and Boeing entered into their agreement in 2019 when SpaceX was making headlines for reusable rockets and the Starship announcement. Boeing had FOMO they might miss out on government money so they made their own rockets with blackjack and hookers. Sadly, now Boeing is working hard to keep up while also trying to not kill more people with their "flying" machines.
I'm sitting down, waiting for Scott Manley's analysis video to drop. I'd hope there are valid and sane reasons why they thought it should go ahead, but something like this was so obviously going to happen.
AFAIK helium is only used to prepare the fuel and oxidizer lines for burns and to backfill propellant tanks. Liquid propellant has to be kept extremely far below zero and if the lines aren't 1, down to apropriate temperatures and 2, clear of anything that isnt rocket fuel it can cause some serious damage so helium is a purging gas. Also as the propellant is used they have to keep the fuel tanks pressurized with helium to maintain a higher pressure upstream of the engine. You dont want an engine to burn backwards.
That being said, this mission wasnt slated to take extremely long or be particularly complex (im aware oribital mechanics are by default complex but its just a mission to and from the ISS, no midflight reconfigurations like the saturn missions).
Mission control is full of engineers who know this rocket better than anyone else ever will. If they had reason to believe a small complication isnt worth worrying about we have no choice but to believe them. There are so many systems in place for a rocket launch, there has to be some wiggle room in terms of non critical systems and issues. Its kind of a morbid fact that if we dont launch until it's 100% perfect nothing would leave florida.
I want to believe you're right, but I also assume these leaks are just what we know about and there's 100 other "minor" things that could turn this thing into a fireball. Guess we'll find out soon.
Theres no reason to assume that. I also hate boeing with everything thats going on right now but I trust NASA to be responsible with peoples lives. Also, with this as well as the cost of this spacecraft I dont see boeing getting much more government money here. Starliner cost roughly double that of the dragon. Just not worth it.
Absolutely. Iβm not surprised they pulled some mickey mouse shit and massaged the rules a bit. Itβs kinda their SOP at this point.