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SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

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Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#31

Post by dotnet00 »

eth0up wrote: post #13
dotnet00 wrote: post #3

Man the reporting on this ordeal has been so awful and so representative of how media misleads the public into thinking things are worse than they actually are. It isn't a rescue mission, it's a regular crew rotation mission with modifications to account for the extra crew left on the station, and those crew are 'stuck' only in the sense that they're expected to stay there as part of their duties and it would be unne…

I guess I'm a victim of this reporting to some extent, because I remember this situation going on for months, and I keep thinking every time it's mentioned (often) how terrible it must be for these astronauts and why something isn't done about it. But I know almost nothing regarding details. I know I despise Boeing and that I admire astronauts and that reading this headline, I thought 'its about fucking time!' But if…

There were issues with Boeing's Starliner that made it difficult for NASA to quantify the risk of bringing the test crew back on it. NASA still believed that the risk was likely to be negligible, but since they had the option of taking a fully proven spacecraft back home, they opted to send Starliner home empty.

The astronauts were/are comfortable on the ISS. There are plenty of supplies, and more have gone up as part of regular resupplies. IIRC the only discomfort for them was having to use makeshift sleeping places until the previous crew departed. As astronauts, they pretty much live to go into space, so they were happy, of course with the minor caveat of the disappointment regarding their primary mission not panning out and of having to be away from family for a few months. Especially considering that they are unlikely to get to be in space again as the ISS is due for retirement by the end of the decade and NASA wants to give space travel experience to the astronauts intended for the Moon.

Putting it differently, the biggest issue/inconvenience with this situation was that Starliner was taking up a docking port and causing things to have to be rescheduled. Prior to launch, crew are trained to operate certain experiments, or to do servicing space walks. Since the crew being launched had to be reordered, these plans had to be reworked.

There are a lot of people focusing in on the fact that they will be returning in February, but they're completely ignoring the fact that they're perfectly capable of coming back early, that option is actively not being chosen as having them stay till then would be more optimal for station operational planning.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#32

Post by Loughla »

macinjosh wrote: post #9
tw04 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if you ride a ferry on a regular basis (which I'm sure at least a handful of HN folks do) - if that ferry breaks down before the return trip, when you catch the next ferry is that a "rescue mission", or are you just catching the next ferry? Replace ferry with bus, car, taxi, airplane, your transportation mode of choice. Calling this a rescue is, to OPs point, just dramatizing the situation for clicks. In pretty mu…

You are leaving out the tiny detail that compared to a ferry there are very limited opportunities to catch the next ferry. If a ferry breaks down you aren’t stuck in the island for 8 months. You could charter a boat, get a helicopter, go for a swim. Significant unexpected planning and spending have to go into getting them a different ride home. It’s closer to your car breaking down in a remote area. Would a tow truck…

It's similar to your car breaking down in a remote area only if you've trained extensively for that area (almost your entire life), have food and supplies for the entire duration, have friends and entertainment, and can do your job as well as novel career options the entire time as well.

It's overly dramatic to call it a rescue mission. It just is. It's not great that they're up there longer than planned, but they're not going to explode or fly off into space.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#33

Post by eth0up »

addaon wrote: post #29
eth0up wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I'm a victim of this reporting to some extent, because I remember this situation going on for months, and I keep thinking every time it's mentioned (often) how terrible it must be for these astronauts and why something isn't done about it. But I know almost nothing regarding details. I know I despise Boeing and that I admire astronauts and that reading this headline, I thought 'its about fucking time!' But if…

> Is the situation normal, or common? They went up on an experimental spacecraft on its shakedown cruise. They’re coming down on a different spacecraft than planned — a different make of spacecraft, even. That’s never happened before, and is neither normal nor common. The spacecraft type they flew up will almost certainly never fly again because of how badly the shakedown went. That’s never happened before to a manne…

Because I cannot upvote comments on HN, I'll clutter the thread by thanking both you and the other fellow who gave pretty good explanations.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#34

Post by sinuhe69 »

elintknower wrote: post #2

[flagged]

Not in this article but I read an ABC News article where they vehemently avoided to mention SpaceX when they talked about the Starliner’s problem and the decision of NASA. Literally not even a single word. Hilarious :D

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#38

Post by yarg »

neverrroot wrote: post #17
electriclove wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SpaceX is pretty much America’s space program at this point - absolutely incredible!

Kinda is, and it’s all Elon’s fault.

Or perhaps blame Boeing and NASA, rather than the single competent organisation that's managing to hold the whole damned thing together.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#39

Post by blackeyeblitzar »

tw04 wrote: post #7
jiggawatts wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a matter of perspective. The mission is what you call it. Sure, it’s not a “rescue”, it’s just an “unplanned itinerary change to another vessel”. Also, they’re not “marooned”, they’re “getting an extended work opportunity”.

So if you ride a ferry on a regular basis (which I'm sure at least a handful of HN folks do) - if that ferry breaks down before the return trip, when you catch the next ferry is that a "rescue mission", or are you just catching the next ferry? Replace ferry with bus, car, taxi, airplane, your transportation mode of choice. Calling this a rescue is, to OPs point, just dramatizing the situation for clicks. In pretty mu…

It’s a downsized crew, right? As in they purposely are sending up fewer people so that there is room to bring back everyone?

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#40

Post by wpasc »

tw04 wrote: post #7
jiggawatts wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a matter of perspective. The mission is what you call it. Sure, it’s not a “rescue”, it’s just an “unplanned itinerary change to another vessel”. Also, they’re not “marooned”, they’re “getting an extended work opportunity”.

So if you ride a ferry on a regular basis (which I'm sure at least a handful of HN folks do) - if that ferry breaks down before the return trip, when you catch the next ferry is that a "rescue mission", or are you just catching the next ferry? Replace ferry with bus, car, taxi, airplane, your transportation mode of choice. Calling this a rescue is, to OPs point, just dramatizing the situation for clicks. In pretty mu…

I respectfully partially disagree. Sure, the term "rescue" is a bit over the top and evokes "Apollo 13" vibes. OTOH, Boeing has "$14.8bn in Pentagon contracts in 2022" [1]. Boeing has plane crash issues for years now across more than 1 model. And its space program just had an embarrassing failure. Given their failures, the amount of revenue they get from the US federal gov, and their level of influence over various aspects of defense funding/spending, I do not think this story should be dismissed as an overly sensational, run-of-the-mill story that does not make the news.

IMO, US citizens/taxpayers would be very justified to be pissed about the failures of a company that their tax dollars heavily fund (from the same article I referenced above, its like 37% of their revenue). The series of very public failures that affect people directly (planes) and affect their tax dollars (recent series of failures of their space program) certainly warrants outrage and coverage. that's my 2 cents

[1]: https://www.airforce-technology.com/features/boeing-pleads-g...

or

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2020/01/02/ho...

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