Keith’s note: Starliner made a mostly flawless return to Earth early today. I was on Deutsche Welle yesterday before the landing [audio] and then again after the landing [audio]. If you go to 03:25 on this YouTube video of the interview you’ll see that I had a walk-on guest commentary on the alien-sounding noises coming out of Starliner’s comm system (the picture on this post). I then did BBC World News this morning [audio] and CGTN this evening [audio]. YouTube videos of these interviews are posted below.

Keith’s note: NASA says that Starliner will return to Earth without any crew. Butch and Suni will stay on ISS until early 2025 when the Crew 9 on a SpaceX Dragon will bring them home. That’s three times that Boeing’s Starliner has flown and each mission has had problems – two of the missions have had mission-altering safety issues. And of course no one has been cited as being at fault. That will likely change when the inevitable congressional hearings occur. Did the post-Columbia safety culture at NASA work? Yes. Full stop. Did contractor oversight by NASA and contractor performance by Boeing work? You tell me. For the same program SpaceX did everything nearly flawlessly with Dragon years before and a $billion+ less than Boeing. Bill Nelson says that NASA will be flying astronauts on Starliner again. Well, it’s easy to punt and say that now since that decision will be made after the election and regardless of who wins Nelson will probably not be making that call. That said, at what point does NASA give up? One has to wonder whether Starliner will ever fly again with – or without – humans. Three strikes and … Update: I spoke about this with LBC Radio in the UK [audio], on Deutsche Welle TV at 4:00 pm EDT [audio] and again at 7:00 pm EDT [audio] and was on CGTN TV at 5:00 pm EDT [audio]. Videos below.

Keith’s note: Wednesday morning I was on CNN talking about the latest news – or rather lack thereof – regarding the ongoing Boeing Starliner saga. NASA held a media update today – except there was no actual “news”. All we heard from them was “yea, they’re still up there. We’ll get back to you” And yes, I did make a reference to the opening of “Gilligan’s Island” on CNN. [Audio]. I was also on CGTN [Audio], Deutsche Welle [Audio], and BBC World Service talking about Starliner during the day. Thursday update: And I just did a radio interview on Starliner with W Radio (with an excellent Spanish interpreter!) and they have a 33 million+ global reach.

NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Block 1B Development, NASA OIG: “Quality control issues at Michoud are largely due to the lack of a sufficient number of trained and experienced aerospace workers at Boeing. To mitigate these challenges, Boeing provides training and work orders to its employees. Considering the significant quality control deficiencies at Michoud, we found these efforts to be inadequate. For example, during our visit to Michoud in April 2023, we observed a liquid oxygen fuel tank dome – a critical component of the SLS Core Stage 3 – segregated and pending disposition on whether and how it can safely be used going forward due to welds that did not meet NASA specifications. According to NASA officials, the welding issues arose due to Boeing’s inexperienced technicians and inadequate work order planning and supervision. The lack of a trained and qualified workforce increases the risk that Boeing will continue to manufacture parts and components that do not adhere to NASA requirements and industry standards. We project SLS Block 1B costs will reach approximately $5.7 billion before the system is scheduled to launch in 2028. This is $700 million more than NASA’s 2023 Agency Baseline Commitment, which established a cost and schedule baseline at nearly $5 billion. EUS development accounts for more than half of this cost, which we estimate will increase from an initial cost of $962 million in 2017 to nearly $2.8 billion through 2028. Boeing’s delivery of the EUS to NASA has also been delayed from February 2021 to April 2027, and when combined with other factors, suggests the September 2028 Artemis IV launch date could be delayed as well. Factors contributing to these cost increases and schedule delays include redirection of EUS funds to the core stage during Artemis I production, changing Artemis mission assignments, maintaining an extended workforce 7 years more than planned, manufacturing issues, and supply chain challenges.”

NASA official acknowledges internal “disagreement” on safety of Starliner return, Ars Technica: “Boeing engineers are advocating for flying Starliner as is, that enough is known about the problem that failures will not occur during the vehicle’s return to Earth. However, during meetings of key engineers at NASA known as the “Program Control Board” this week, there was no agreement that this so-called flight rationale was enough to fly crew on the vehicle. “We heard from a lot of folks that had concerns,” Bowersox said. “We heard enough voices that the decision was not clear at the Program Control Board.” Given that NASA will soon decide whether to fly crew on Starliner, the Boeing team has about a week to convince the NASA team of Starliner’s safety before a potential switch to Crew Dragon.”

Keith’s note: I just recorded a piece for Scripps News that should be airing on its various networks/stations about the current Boeing Starliner status and the planned EVA. ICYMI according to a Friday update from NASA: “NASA and Boeing leadership are adjusting the return to Earth of the Starliner Crew Flight Test spacecraft … Mission managers are evaluating future return opportunities following the station’s two planned spacewalks on Monday, June 24, and Tuesday, July 2.” And today’s EVA was cancelled “due to a water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit on Dyson’s spacesuit.” So … things are going to be TBD-ish for a while.

Keith’s note: I just did an interview for ARD TV (German) which is being edited up for later use and also a live interview on Alhurra TV (VOA Arabic language) [audio] about the Boeing Starliner mission. Below: Screen grabs while I was waiting to go on Alhurra. Often the audiences don’t think about space and are preoccupied with more basic things in their daily lives. I actually consider it a priviledge to be asked to talk about space to these audiences. I wish NASA would do more of it. Just sayin’ [More]

Keith’s note: I was just on CNN this morning talking about the current status of the Boeing Starliner which is currently docked with the International Space Station [Audio].

Keith’s note: I just spoke with Alhurra TV about the Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Starship flights. [Audio]

Keith’s note: I did CNN this morning talking about the Boeing Starliner launch, SpaceX Starship, and China’s lunar exploration plans (and my reaction to how NASA Administrator Bill Nelson characterizes them). [Audio] I then did live launch coverage on Bloomberg Radio/Youtube, and then I did a quick interview with BBC World Service [Audio]. I also talked again to Deutsche Welle [Audio].