5 ms·

NASA Contractor Warns That Boeing Launch Must Be Stopped

18 points by DamnInteresting 2y ago

bell-cot 2y ago
Situation is more interesting than the headline suggests: > ...the president of ValveTech, a NASA contractor that supplies the agency with parts, warned that the buzzing sound heard during the now-scrubbed Starliner launch could indicate something seriously wrong ... > ...as valve experts, we strongly urge them not to attempt a second launch due to the risk of a disaster occurring on the launchpad," ValveTech president Erin Faville cautioned. "According to media reports, a buzzing sound indicating the leaking valve was noticed ... minutes before launch. This sound could indicate that the valve has passed its lifecycle." > As the company's press release notes, the launch scrub also occurred after a November 2023 ruling in which a federal court found that Boeing had used a valve from another aerospace company, Aerojet Rocketdyne, that copied ValveTech's designs. The part was not, according to a witness in that trial, equipped for the job it was meant to do ... > ValveTech continues to question how NASA, Boeing and Aerojet could have qualified this valve for the mission without proper supporting data or previous history or legacy information
- datadrivenangel 2y ago
  Corporate espionage, coupled with the fact that Aerojet and Boeing have an apparently terrible relationship right now...
  - bell-cot 2y ago
    Aerojet and ValveTech are hardly chums, either. Just do a search on "Valvetech, Inc. vs. Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc."
- axelthegerman 2y ago
  You forgot one more that play out between the two CEOs > The CEO of United Launch Alliance, which is launching the craft into orbit, pushed back strongly on X-formerly-Twitter. "Not sure what to say about this one," he wrote. "Close to none of it is correct: Not urgent. Not leaking. Etc. Remarkable that the particular person quoted doesn't seem to know how this type of valve works."
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

5 ms·

NASA Contractor Warns That Boeing Launch Must Be Stopped

18 points by DamnInteresting 2y ago

bell-cot 2y ago
Situation is more interesting than the headline suggests: > ...the president of ValveTech, a NASA contractor that supplies the agency with parts, warned that the buzzing sound heard during the now-scrubbed Starliner launch could indicate something seriously wrong ... > ...as valve experts, we strongly urge them not to attempt a second launch due to the risk of a disaster occurring on the launchpad," ValveTech president Erin Faville cautioned. "According to media reports, a buzzing sound indicating the leaking valve was noticed ... minutes before launch. This sound could indicate that the valve has passed its lifecycle." > As the company's press release notes, the launch scrub also occurred after a November 2023 ruling in which a federal court found that Boeing had used a valve from another aerospace company, Aerojet Rocketdyne, that copied ValveTech's designs. The part was not, according to a witness in that trial, equipped for the job it was meant to do ... > ValveTech continues to question how NASA, Boeing and Aerojet could have qualified this valve for the mission without proper supporting data or previous history or legacy information
- datadrivenangel 2y ago
  Corporate espionage, coupled with the fact that Aerojet and Boeing have an apparently terrible relationship right now...
  - bell-cot 2y ago
    Aerojet and ValveTech are hardly chums, either. Just do a search on "Valvetech, Inc. vs. Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc."
- axelthegerman 2y ago
  You forgot one more that play out between the two CEOs > The CEO of United Launch Alliance, which is launching the craft into orbit, pushed back strongly on X-formerly-Twitter. "Not sure what to say about this one," he wrote. "Close to none of it is correct: Not urgent. Not leaking. Etc. Remarkable that the particular person quoted doesn't seem to know how this type of valve works."
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]