Ever since it finally launched back in June, critics have been devouring every detail of Boeing Starliner’s malfunction-plagued crewed test flight. All the while, NASA has remained intent on getting Boeing’s commercial crew vehicle human-rated to provide a backup option to get astronauts to and from the International Space Station...
Ever since it finally launched back in June, critics have been devouring every detail of Boeing Starliner’s malfunction-plagued crewed test flight.
The initial launch from Vandenburg Space Force Base in California went off without a hitch last Thursday, but during the second stage the Falcon 9’s upper stage engine was unable to complete the second burn. Instead, the attempt to reignite the rocket"resulted in an engine RUD for reasons currently unknown," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk stated on the social media platform, X, using an inside-baseball acronym to relay the rocket’s rapid unscheduled disassembly.
By contrast, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has an excellent track record. It has launched more than 350 times since June 2010 and has recorded only one catastrophic in-flight failure when the rocket exploded in 2015, obliterating a Dragon space capsule that was hauling cargo to the International Space Station. The rocket has also been rated for human flight since 2020, completing 13 astronaut launches without incident.
Even the team of private astronauts in the Polaris Dawn Crew Dragon mission which is slated to head to the ISS using a Falcon 9 as early as July 31 have stayed positive about this incident."As for Polaris Dawn, we will fly whenever SpaceX is ready and with complete confidence in the rocket, spaceship and operations," Jason Isaacman, the head of the program and a crew member for the upcoming flight, stated on X.
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