Retired Astronaut Admits Boeing's Starliner Has Trapped Crew in Space | Hacker News Reader

Retired Astronaut Admits Boeing's Starliner Has Trapped Crew in Space

futurism.com

10 pointsokasaki7 comments

“Admits” implies that this unnamed retired astronaut was not being honest before.

Probably nobody asked them before. They’re just giving their honest opinion, and they don’t deserve this implied insult.

Toxic commentary, about a serious issue which demands calmer criticism

And, the only real reporting done was from The Atlantic, not this clickbait mill.

I read it as "admits on behalf of the space industry community", not that he/she was personally lying before.

This would be similar to describing any of your comments as “on behalf of the Hacker News community”. You probably would object to that description and it certainly wouldn’t be true.

It's not particularly similar. I've never been employed by the Hacker News community and haven't received any formal Hacker News training or education, other than dang telling me to stop shitposting.

Note that The Atlantic, which is our root source of info on the retired astronaut, does not say that anyone has "admitted" to anything.

Here's The Atlantic's one use of "admit", very clearly speculative:

> Maybe officials worry that admitting outright that a return journey is currently too risky would fuel more sensationalist coverage. Or perhaps NASA leaders want to protect Boeing.

THIS...except the article also misrepresents The Atlantic's article. Here's the quote from that article - in which the whole thing "retired astronaut sez" is just some minor background, buried in a little para late in the article:

> “Of course they don’t feel comfortable putting them in the vehicle,” a retired NASA astronaut told me, speaking on condition of anonymity so that he could be candid. “Otherwise they would have put them in it already.”

"Admit" also implies actual knowledge. The Atlantic make no such claim for their retired astronaut - who could well have been a biosciences mission specialist, and have retired decades ago.

I think you are inferring a meaning that wasn't implied. To admit something is simply making a statement that you believe is real or valid or could be conceding to someone else's point. None of those things require that you lied before nor does it imply an insult.

I suspect if you are inferring that it might say more about your personality than it does the "astronauts". Because there's simply not enough information in the article to know anything about their personality. And as you readily admit it's likely no one ever asked them before so they never lied before or gave any dishonest information.

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