The analyses leading to the loss estimates I mentioned were done in 2010, shortly before the Shuttle's retirement, due to recognition of the previously poor ris

The analyses leading to the loss estimates I mentioned were done in 2010, shortly before the Shuttle's retirement, due to recognition of the previously poor risk analyses. As is clear from the issues seen with Starliner, this normalization of deviance has been significantly reduced, in that it doesn't seem to affect the newer style of contracting. Both Dragon and Starliner have had to scrub launches and make fixes for things that would be considered to not be a big deal if they weren't carrying humans, and are expected to review and justify any deviation from expectations even if it was fine previously. We're seeing plenty of normalization of deviance with SLS and Orion though. There were the issues with various backup systems and IIRC no life support in Artemis 1, with issues with the heat shield only recently being made public, yet Artemis 2 is intended to carry a crew. So I would not be surprised if Congress only finally gives up on that waste when they cause another crew to be killed and can blame NASA instead of themselves.