https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/astronauts-would-h...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/astronauts-would-h...
So anomalies that might be acceptable during ascent would be unacceptable during decent.
Personally? I'm glad Boeing launched.
I wish they were perfect technically, but I also realize that an infinite amount of time and money doesn't protect against unknown-unknowns.
IMHO, they should be operating more like SpaceX (and the earlier days of the US space program) -- using calculated risk and engineering to decide when it's reasonable to do an inherently risky thing, when doing so is needed to move the entire program forward.
The US spent extra money funding two separate vendors.
One vendor exhibited a high level of risk in their first return.
The astronauts were able to be returned on the second, already proven vendor.
That's a great place to be in!
The alternative, having to return astronauts on a high risk vehicle because it's the only option, is not a place we ever want to be in.
> One vendor exhibited a high level of risk in their first return.
> The astronauts were able to be returned on the second, already proven vendor.
Anyone reading this five years ago would be absolutely shocked to discover which vendor is which.It's easy(ish) to go fast and break things.
It's much harder to go fast and break things, except also never break things when it really matters.