Updates Boeing's CST-100 Starliner

[Frilock]

 

[Sbb1413]

By the way, I have gotten a lot of news on the challenges the Starliner crew may (or may not) face in their prolonged stay in space since June, as if no other astronauts have ever faced them before. This is prolly due to the Indian ancestry of Williams, which I had mentioned before. However, she was born and raised in the US as an American, and not as an Indian immigrant, so she can combat the challenges in space like other American astronauts.

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

By the way, I have gotten a lot of news on the challenges the Starliner crew may (or may not) face in their prolonged stay in space since June, as if no other astronauts have ever faced them before. This is prolly due to the Indian ancestry of Williams, which I had mentioned before. However, she was born and raised in the US as an American, and not as an Indian immigrant, so she can combat the challenges in space like other American astronauts.

She is facing the same challenges she did before I guess. Neither space, nor a long term stay on the ISS is new to her. She spent over 300 days onboard ISS in 2006/2007 and 2012 combined. Also, Butch and Suni were aware that such a scenario might take place. It's a test flight and Suni was a test pilot for the US Navy, before she became an astronaut. I think her ancestry has no real influence on her job. Astronauts that are trained for long term missions in space, in general know very well to distinguish between their private life and belief, and their job.

As for "news", I would always chose information from inside the industry, either at first hand (NASA) or from people involved in it, that are active in the internet or on nasaspaceflight.com for example. The usual press is not really the best source of information. I would say that even Orbiter forums is a better way to get information from, rather than the press.

 

[MarkWatney2015]

Yeah the mainstream media blew the situation very out of proportion. Like one day I saw a post that they're about to run out of oxygen in three days, like they're in a freakin space station with years-long life support in place... there's no real danger to it unless some random space debris is about to destroy the station

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

Yeah the mainstream media blew the situation very out of proportion. Like one dag I saw a post that they're about to run out of oxygen in three days, like they're in a freakin space station with years-long life support in place... there's no real danger to it unless some random space debris is about to destroy the station

Yeah. Even the so-called serious press/media in Germany spreads half-truths (not purposely though; I think the reporters are just no space experts and don't always do proper research before these days).

If I consume stuff from media for example, there is at least someone involved that knows something about the matter and can give the right answers...

Very nice guy btw.

 

[Urwumpe]

I really wish, the German media would ask at least a special former German astronaut and retired professor at the technical university of Munich, who is always happy to help with a statement, about something they don't quite understand.

But the hard reality is: Even mainstream media is subject to the attention scarcity of today. Headlines must be extreme for "normal" people ( = brain fried by X, Youtube Shorts, Tiktok, etc) to notice them. Nobody takes time for consuming news, the news pop up every second around us and cry for our attention. Does anybody still remember how it was like to read a newspaper? How you took your time to read it carefully? Maybe like a morning ritual? Or for relaxing after work? Would you say that modern news feel the same? Or worse, that modern attention catching news actually cause sublime stress for you?

 

[sitha241]

I really wish, the German media would ask at least a special former German astronaut and retired professor at the technical university of Munich, who is always happy to help with a statement, about something they don't quite understand.

But the hard reality is: Even mainstream media is subject to the attention scarcity of today. Headlines must be extreme for "normal" people ( = brain fried by X, Youtube Shorts, Tiktok, etc) to notice them. Nobody takes time for consuming news, the news pop up every second around us and cry for our attention. Does anybody still remember how it was like to read a newspaper? How you took your time to read it carefully? Maybe like a morning ritual? Or for relaxing after work? Would you say that modern news feel the same? Or worse, that modern attention catching news actually cause sublime stress for you?

Yeah, and unfortunately younger generations can't even remember what you have described lol. Brainrot continues

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

I really wish, the German media would ask at least a special former German astronaut and retired professor at the technical university of Munich, who is always happy to help with a statement, about something they don't quite understand.

He even replies to your private email, if you send him one and ask interesting stuff that he loves to explain He is always enthusiastic when it comes to space flight or physics.

But the hard reality is: Even mainstream media is subject to the attention scarcity of today. Headlines must be extreme for "normal" people ( = brain fried by X, Youtube Shorts, Tiktok, etc) to notice them. Nobody takes time for consuming news, the news pop up every second around us and cry for our attention. Does anybody still remember how it was like to read a newspaper? How you took your time to read it carefully? Maybe like a morning ritual? Or for relaxing after work? Would you say that modern news feel the same? Or worse, that modern attention catching news actually cause sublime stress for you?

Yeah. An increasing number of people don't even consume news anymore, they just click through headlines on their "smart"phone and say "I read it in the news!". Same applies to videos meanwhile. People love to share short video snippets that are out of context. Wow, someone said something in a video = fact. Headline in the news = fact

 

[GLS]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1829279982897569812

 

[Urwumpe]

Sounds like they can't wait to get it off the station.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Sounds like they can't wait to get it off the station.

They can't use it for anything, and they have to clear a docking port for Crew-9 arrival later in September. They probably want to get it off sooner rather than later just in case something off-nominal occurs.

 

[STS]

Sounds like they can't wait to get it off the station.

Well, IMHO, if I were them, now that all the "lab research" is done I would like to get it out of there quickly and move on, of course hoping that it undocks well, deorbits well, separates well, reenters well, and splashes down well, knowing that if it fails there may be no road to continue moving on, but It´s better sooner than later to know that fate, IMHO.

 

[Sbb1413]

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Changes Ahead of September Launch

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24, on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, previously announced as crewmates, are eligible for reassignment on a future mission. [...] The updated crew complement follows NASA’s decision to return the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test uncrewed and launch Crew-9 with two unoccupied seats. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June, will fly home with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2025.

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

Well, IMHO, if I were them, now that all the "lab research" is done I would like to get it out of there quickly and move on, of course hoping that it undocks well, deorbits well, separates well, reenters well, and splashes down well, knowing that if it fails there may be no road to continue moving on, but It´s better sooner than later to know that fate, IMHO.

I don't think it splashes down

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

Sounds like they can't wait to get it off the station.

It actually turned to useless ballast

 

[Sbb1413]

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June, will fly home with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2025.

Wait a minute, is Williams still a NASA astronaut and not a private citizen, as @francisdrake said? I agreed to them, because she was 58 years old when she was launched aboard Starliner, and I wasn't aware about the age of retirement in the US. The age of retirement is 60 in India and 66 in the US.

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

Wait a minute, is Williams still a NASA astronaut and not a private citizen, as @francisdrake said? I agreed to them, because she was 58 years old when she was launched aboard Starliner, and I wasn't aware about the age of retirement in the US. The age of retirement is 60 in India and 66 in the US.

As far as I know, there are no age restrictions for NASA astronauts.

Suni Williams actually is still young. Michael Barratt is 65 for example. He is aboard ISS right now, as a flight engineer of Expedition 71 and pilot of SpaceX Crew-8. He flew on Soyuz and the Shuttle before and spent more than a year in space. Suni is a retired Navy officer but an active astronaut by the way.

Donald Pettit is scheduled to fly to ISS on Soyuz next month. Meanwhile he is 69 years old and the oldest active NASA astronaut. I remember him from some older videos he did more than a decade ago. An interesting guy and a true NASA scientist.

That's what I love about the job of an astronaut. It's not only an interesting and very versatile job. You also don't have to retire at pensionable age, if you don't want to and if you still pass the long-duration spaceflight physical check.

 

[Sbb1413]

Suni Williams actually is still young. Michael Barratt is 65 for example. He is aboard ISS right now, as a flight engineer of Expedition 71 and pilot of SpaceX Crew-8. He flew on Soyuz and the Shuttle before and spent more than a year in space. Suni is a retired Navy officer but an active astronaut by the way.

Yes, but for developing countries like India, being 58 means you're getting old. In particular, this photo clearly shows her signs of aging. However, I know that the oldest person ever orbited the Earth in Glenn (77). Shatner touched the Karman line at even older age (90). Gerontologists will be interested in how aging can affect the human body in space.

 

[Urwumpe]

Yes, but for developing countries like India, being 58 means you're getting old. In particular, this photo clearly shows her signs of aging. However, I know that the oldest person ever orbited the Earth in Glenn (77). Shatner touched the Karman line at even older age (90). Gerontologists will be interested in how aging can affect the human body in space.

That is a statistic, not a fate. The number for India is low at 67 years, but this does not mean its the same for every Indian. If you look at the leading causes of death in India, you can see that especially the pollution is a problem and that mostly for the poorer people, but that an increasing number of wealthier Indians also simply die of first world problems at old age. Especially the prevalence of "Diarrhoeal diseases" is a terrible sign in India. You fly into space, build atomic bombs, but can't provide clean drinking water to every one? So much about prioritites. Liver cirrhosis could be caused by alcoholism, but in India (which has traditionally an extremely low alcohol consumption, but with an increasing small number of heavy drinkers), its seems more likely to be caused by parasites and poor nutrition. Hygiene is also a factor for the large number of neonatal infections in India, that kill many children in their first year on Earth.

India

Health data overview for India, containing the latest population, life expectancy and mortality data from WHO.

data.who.int

Suni Williams has spent most of her life in the USA, all those health factors that make Indians ill, doesn't apply there. And I am pretty sure, she has one of the good health insurances there.

 

[Thunder Chicken]