This Week in Space 128: Starliner is Back! What Now?

Starliner is back and, by all accounts, could have returned with its crew had it been necessary. However, with NASA's "safety forward" approach prevailing, the spacecraft landed uncrewed on September 6, three months after it docked with the International Space Station. Now, the work begins to try to solve the problems- largely software changes, dealing with balky thrusters, and helium leaks- so that the Starliner Crew 1 can fly next year. But how did we get here? What's NASA's take on the latest Starliner mission? And, perhaps above all, how will Boeing approach the program moving ahead? We'll bring you the latest and greatest--and fear not, we have Tariq here to keep us fair--on what's going on with Boeing's Starliner CST-100 spacecraft. Headlines • For the first time, a commercial crew flew above low Earth orbit on SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission, setting records for the highest spaceflight by female astronauts and the first commercial spacewalk by anyone. • The FAA says it won't clear SpaceX's Starship Flight 5 from Boca Chica, Texas until November due to environmental concerns, frustrating SpaceX as they aim to conduct orbital refueling tests and prepare for lunar missions. Starliner's Return and Future • Boeing's Starliner spacecraft finally returned on September 6th, three months after it launched, facing challenges such as thruster overheating, and in some cases outright fgailure, and a GPS dropout during reentry. • Rod and Tariq discuss the cultural differences between Boeing and SpaceX, with SpaceX embracing a more iterative, failure-tolerant approach that allowed them to innovate faster. • They debate whether Boeing's traditional aerospace culture and cost-cutting measures contributed to Starliner's issues and examined the effects of the company's lack of transparency during the mission. • Despite the challenges, Starliner demonstrated its ability to survive an extended mission and NASA remains confident that Boeing will fly out its Commercial Crew contract. • The future of Starliner may involve private missions to upcoming commercial space stations, but standardizing spacesuits across different spacecraft will be crucial for crew safety. • While Starliner faced setbacks, Rod and Tariq emphasize the importance of having multiple crew transportation systems to ensure continuous access to space. Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit