At the earliest, the Boeing Starliner crew could land in New Mexico on June 26
  • cordlesslamp@lemmy.todayEnglish
    22·
    3 months ago

    I thought it was just a test flight? Are they seriously put the lives of astronaut in that leaking piece of safety hazard and hurl them back to earth?

  • allthetimesivedied [they/them, she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    20·
    3 months ago

    Jesus Christ, I knew this would happen. Fucking terrifying.

    Edit: Actually it was Starlink imploding or whatever that I foresaw, but you know the free market is going to give us that at some point in the near future.

      • Hexamerous [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
        9·
        3 months ago

        omg that’s what the cybertruck is, isn’t it? They gave him crayons and paper to doodle in his office to distract him. He came out a month later with a square and four wheels and a bunch of arrows going “it can drive in water and it’s bulletproof and it’s gas tight and it’s self driving and it’s…” and the engineers just did their best to make it real.

  • Black_Mald_Futures [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    13·
    3 months ago

    If I was an astronaut or training to be one and saw this shit I would immediately quit, not going to have my ride back to the only habitable planet be contingent on some capitalist fuck for brains operation like Boeing Starliner

    • someone [comrade/them, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      32·
      3 months ago

      The ISS has a mandatory 45 day minimum supply of food and other essentials needed by the crew. In practice it’s more like 6 months. Cargo supplies are launched using several independently-developed cargo ships: Cygnus, Progress, and Cargo Dragon. They’re all in regular rotation to top up supplies. The Starliner astronauts could stay up as long as is needed if a Crew Dragon needs to be launched to take them home.

      There is a policy of requiring a “lifeboat” seat for every single person on board the ISS. During the Shuttle era where shuttle missions swapped out crew, this role was filled by an extra Soyuz that docked uncrewed. Nowadays it’s filled by the original vehicle that brought up that specific crew member. If Starliner can’t be used to return, that rule will have to be waived temporarily. If that happens then a Crew Dragon is the only vehicle likely to be used to bring them home. They’re proven reliable vehicles that can do automated docking. In theory a Soyuz can dock uncrewed as well and is also an incredibly safe way to return to Earth (though it is a bit of a roller coaster ride). In practice, given the geopolitical climate, I think it would be… unlikely. By default it’s Crew Dragon.

      There’s also the issue of spacesuit compatibility. During re-entry, the spacesuits themselves are connected to the vehicle’s backup life support systems. If the vehicle pressurization fails or if there’s other life support problems that don’t compromise the rest of the vehicle, they’ll still be able to safely land. Starliner and Crew Dragon suits don’t talk to each other. Some sort of adaptor hardware would have to be built.

      Which brings up the matter of docking port schedules. It’s going to be really tricky to finagle schedules and vehicle availability. Docking schedules are typically planned years prior.

      So in a nutshell they’re completely safe so long as there’s no event that requires evacuation of the ISS. And even then they’d probably pile in to the nearest Crew Dragon, try to line the cargo floor with something thick and soft and light, and basically bareback it down to Earth. But because there’s a lifeboat rule they’re going to want them home quick.