What "weed need" is a space mission!

[storm5510]

Originally Posted by sdbardwick

...Frustrating that Boeing has fallen so far.

There is a documentary on one of the streaming channels entitled, "The Case Against Boeing." Boeing was always known for its high standards of manufacturing and quality. That is, until the merger with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Somehow, the exec's from M-D managed to push out the exec's of Boeing. The president of M-D became the new president of Boeing. Boeing was to take over M-D. It was actually the reverse.

When that happened, everything at Boeing changed. No longer was it a quality driven company. It because a profit driven company. Many production corners were cut and thousands lost their jobs. The corporate HQ was moved from Seattle to Chicago. Management didn't want to be bugged by engineers with questions any longer.

Major problems with the 737 Max, after two crashes, brought it all out into public view. Pilots with thousands of hours of flight time refused to fly them. A senator from Oregon began a congressional investigation. Top executives from Boeing were called to testify.

The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was MCAS. Short for Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System. The problem was that pilots had not been told about the addition. Boeing felt it was not necessary to tell them. 737 Max flight manuals made no mention of MCAS other than one item in an alphabetical listing in the very back of the manual.

Boeing was charged with criminal misconduct for misleading regulators but never pleaded guilty to the charges. In the settlement, Boeing paid $2.5-billion with the majority going to airlines and survivors.

Boeing lost their hard earned reputation. This is a permanent stain which will never go away.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by sdbardwick

Maybe avoidance of RUD prior to docking is enough to pass. Hope there are reserve parachutes aboard for the return trip.

Frustrating that Boeing has fallen so far.

Return trip? I'm more worried about something like the following:

The Starliner craft has crashed into ISS. The station and Starliner have been destroyed. All crew lost.

The whole point of keeping Boeing on the project is to have more than one way to get astronauts and supplies to the ISS.

A scenario as above would certainly take care of that problem.