NASA unsure Boeing Starliner will ever be certified for human flight

https://www.theregister.com/offbeat/2026/07/01/nasa-unsure-boeing-starliner-will-ever-be-certified-for-human-flight/5265177

60 points · 9 comments · view on lemmy.world

9 Comments

burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 13 pts · 52d (4 replies)

It's a firm fixed price contract (other than a few weird bonuses...), so it's not constantly leaching money like cost plus programs. NASA still has to pay staff to deal with the dumpster fire, but that seems worth it to me to maybe get another crew vehicle.

Maybe this is sunk-cost fallacy thinking, but we've paid Boeing so much money to build this thing. They'd better finish it. Or take a monumental reputation hit and stop winning billions of dollars in space contracts.

stom@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 52d (1 reply)

suck-cost?

burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 52d

Lol, sunk-cost. Freudian slip?

supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz · 6 pts · 52d

I think Boeing needs to get their shit together and focus on killing more whistleblowers, this just looks bad for them!

Master@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 46d

Best Boeing can do is 3 more dead whistleblowers.

Assassassin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 52d

Boeing once again putting up a fat L.

Whelks_chance@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 52d

To be fair, NASA probably uses the word "unsure" in a very specific way

RickyRigatoni@piefed.zip · 4 pts · 52d (1 reply)

Boeing's planes are rarely suitable for human flight.

supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 51d

The thing is there is a ton of talent there... criminally strangled by its upper management... sometimes literally?

I think if they combined the job of Chief Financial Officer and Test Pilot things might improve quite fast.