NASA Puts Starliner Mishap in Same Class as Shuttle Tragedies

bloomberg.com

12 points·Betelbuddy··4 comments

Direct link to the NASA report: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nasa-report-...

Reading between the lines of the summary a bit, it sure sounds like NASA program leadership was essentially doing pro bono PR for ol' pal Boeing at the expense of crew safety to placate Boeing's feeling of SpaceX being NASA's new favorite. Followed by Boeing again falling on the sea of sharp daggers held by their army of subcontractors.

That said, the announcement of this mishap reclassification does have a certain fleeting, bias-shaped odor, given Isaacman's proximity to Musk.

The report was released internally last November, before Isaacman’s appointment. It’s a timely reminder of past shortcomings as NASA is preparing for high risk Artemis flights. Boeing itself didn’t dispute it. Would you rather they put it under the rug?

We could probably spin this around in the other direction, too. NASA and prior administrator behavior has a certain bias against SpaceX and Musk. It’s no secret that Musk’s, shall we say, eccentric personality caused him to find few friends in Washington up until he cozied up to Trump. It makes sense that there would be pressure to get an alternative to Falcon 9 and Dragon ready with that additional context in mind.

https://archive.ph/cqM4q

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