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They were scheduled to stay there for 8 days and had Boeing's vessel proven flight worthy, they would have returned after 8 days. The messaging beyond that was
by somenameforme 2y ago
They were scheduled to stay there for 8 days and had Boeing's vessel proven flight worthy, they would have returned after 8 days. The messaging beyond that was just political in nature. They could have been rescued, but were left on the station until after the election. The situation resulted in significant issues for the next crewing [1] leading to some interesting things like the first time a Russian cosmonaut was in control of an American spacecraft, let alone a rookie cosmonaut with only basic training on the Dragon.
It also led to some interesting improvisations. NASA has a requirement that there be a 'lifeboat' on the ISS for all crew in case of an emergency, but because of the Boeing crew (and the lack of a corresponding vessel), NASA approved a new 'configuration' of the Dragon where up to 3 people could strap themselves to the floor of it, where cargo would normally go, in case of the need of a mass escape from the ISS. [2]
As another fun aside, when the Starliner was returning [autonomously] to Earth it experienced two more errors, unrelated to the ones that left the astronauts stranded on the ISS in the first place. What a vessel.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Crew-9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Crew-9
[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Crew_Flight_Test#Uncrewed_return_to_Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Crew_Flight_Test#Uncrew...
- magicalist 2y ago> They could have been rescued, but were left on the station until after the election This continues to be silly. There were changes to Crew 9, last summer, when it was decided that it would be logistically easier for two (instead of four) astronauts to go up and the two Boeing crew would come down with them on the Crew 9 craft in February/March 2025 (that would be now). This has always been the plan, the only politics being injected here are people insisting on grandstanding and making drama where there is none. You can disagree with the decision (though, again, why), but it was a decision. There was no dereliction of duty, no stranding of astronauts since September, and this was not some high-stakes rescue.
- spiderfarmer 2y agoI would like to see the qualifications of the people who disagree with that decision before I waste time listening to them.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- maxerickson 2y agoIt's bizarre that anyone thinks the emergency situation continued after the launch of Crew 9 with 2 empty seats for their return. It's a simple, parsimonious explanation for everything that has happened since. Nonetheless, we apparently have to talk about it. I wonder how many people expressing strong opinions don't even understand that there were intentionally empty seats.
- mavhc 2y agoBoeing have forgotten how to make spaceships, and airplanes
- russdill 2y agoI remember this Elon Musk guy who was spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get Trump elected. I hear he's involved in space somehow, imagine if he found out about this and was able to shame the Biden admin with this before the election. He would have gone absolutely wild with it.