NASA Gave up! Boeing Starliner Astronauts to Return on SpaceX Dragon in 2025...

the long anticipated decision to send Starliner astronauts on Dragon is nearing reality following extensive discussions meanwhile blue origin is preparing to resume operations with new Shepherd after a recent incident in Europe the debut Flight of the RFA has been postponed due to a recent explosion let's explore these develop in today's episode of great SpaceX as we near a critial moment in NASA's decision-making many are eagerly awaiting the final word on how the two Starliner astronauts will return to Earth this topic has fueled much debate in the Aerospace community and the wait for an official announcement is almost over recently Eric berer a highly respected Aerospace journalist provided a potential update although NASA's official decision is expected no earlier than 1: p.m. eastern Daylight Savings Time on August 24th Burger's history of accurate reporting gives this new information significant weight before diving into the details it's worth recognizing Burger's contributions to space exploration discussions his reliable insights are invaluable and I encourage you to follow him on X to stay updated in a recent post Burger shared I'm now hearing from many people that Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams will come back to earth on crew Dragon while not yet confirmed this information likely comes from informed NASA sources the upcoming meeting is expected to formalize decisions already made making this early Revelation plausible reflecting on the situation this decision could have been made sooner the delays have caused significant anxiety around the safety of the starlighter astronauts and disrupted ISS operations fortunately the end of this uncertainty seems near and we can be cautiously optimistic that Butch and Sunni will return turn safely even without an official announcement it's clear that crew dragon is the better choice starlander has faced numerous issues from testing malfunctions to inflight challenges raising serious concerns about its reliability any one of these issues could lead to a disaster during a crude return making Starliner a risky option in contrast crude dragon has proven its reliability with nine successful ISS missions including its demo Mission dragon's Flawless track back record makes it The Logical choice for ensuring a safe return for the Starliner astronauts moreover Dragon offers NASA various options for this mission one possibility is returning both astronauts on crew eight with the spacecraft carrying up to six people alternatively one astronaut could return on crew eight and the other on crew 9 next year allowing for a smaller crew on each Mission the most feasible option might involve both astronauts returning on crew 9 in 2025 regard regardless of the choice dragon's capabilities are clear and all these options are safer than attempting a return with Starliner star liner's future appears uncertain the spacecraft has struggled not only with this Mission but also to inspire confidence in its overall reliability given its history of failures the prospect of flying astronauts on Starliner again seems remote the question now is whether the Starliner program itself remains viable despite these challenges NASA seems determined to certify Starliner for crude flights this decision is puzzling given Starliner poor performance while NASA might be trying to preserve its relationship with Boeing the priority should be safety Starliner has consistently underperformed and its future Mission or missions seem jeopardized anyways ending the starl program might be abrupt but it could be the wisest course of action to avoid further setbacks if you agree that it's time to end the starlander program let your voice be heard by responding with cancel it in the comments down below and and don't forget to like share and subscribe to our channel to stay informed about spacex's journey and developments in the broader Aerospace industry next let's turn our attention to Blue origin a company that has established the dominance in the suborbital space market after a significant Hiatus blue origin is gearing up for its next new Shepherd flight following an extensive investigation into a parachute failure that occurred during its last mission this upcoming launch represents a critical moment for the company as it seeks to demonstrate its ability to safely and reliably conduct suborbital missions according to recent announcements on Blue Origins official X account and website the next new Shepherd Mission designated NS 26 is scheduled for August 20th the launch is set to take place at 9:00 a.m. EDT or 8:00 a.m. Central from Blue Origins West Texas launch site this Mission will be particularly noteworthy as it marks the eighth crude Flight of the new Shephard spacecraft a significant milestone for the company in July blue origin revealed the six-person crew selected for NS 26 the diverse group includes nicolina elck a philanthropist and entrepreneur Rob furl a University of Florida professor and a strong advocate for commercial suborbital research Eugene grin a businessman with a background in real estate and finance Dr Ean yahir a cardiologist and associate professor at Vanderbilt University Carson kitchen a student at the University of North Carolina and daughter of a previous new sheeper flyer Jim kitchen and eim Rabin an American Israeli businessman and philanthropist this eclectic mix of individuals reflects the wide ranging interests in sub interest in suborbital space travel and the various applications it can have from scientific research to personal Adventure the NS 26 Mission will be the first for new Shepard since the ns25 flight which took place on May 19th while that mission was successfully completed it was was marred by an issue with one of the crew capsules three parachutes during descent specifically one parachute failed to fully deploy blue origin reassured the public at the time noting that the capsule was designed to land safely with only two parachutes and no harm came to the crew nevertheless this incident prompted a thorough investigation to ensure such issues do not occur in future flights in a recent report blue origin provided more details about the parachute incident stating we identified the direct cause for the issue observed on ns25 and implemented corrective actions that are in place for our next flight our investigation showed the parachutes themselves were nominal and packed correctly we focused on the dis reefing system that transitions the parachutes from the reefed to dis reefed state which did not function as designed on one of the three parachutes on ns25 this level of transparency is crucial for maintaining confidence in blue Origins technology espec given the importance of safety in human space flight following the parachute incident blue origin took the additional step of briefing NASA on their findings given the parallels between their parachute systems and those used in other commercial crew Vehicles such as Boeing's CST 100 Starliner at a briefing on May 31st regarding the crew flight test mission Steve Stitch the NASA commercial crew program manager provided further insights he explained that during the new Shephard flight a line designed to constrain the parachutes opening was not cut as expected which prevented the parachute from fully deploying although these starliners parachutes utilize a similar cutting mechanism Stitch noted that no issues had been observed during testing offering some reassurance about the Integrity of Starliner systems despite these explanations and corrective measures it's clear that blue origin continues to face significant challenges Within These suborbital Market the company's operations were notably disrupted at the end of 202 to due to an engine problem that sidelined new Shepard for over a year with such setbacks in mind blue Origins focus on the upcoming NS 26 mission is understandable a successful launch would help restore confidence in their suborbital program and demonstrate they have effectively addressed the issues that have plagued their recent efforts however success in suborbital space alone will not suffice for blue origin in the broader context of the Space Race well they have made strides in so orbital tourism and research the ultimate goal for any space company is to reach orbit something blue origin has yet to achieve the forthcoming new Glenn rocket slated for its debut in October represents blue Origins long awaited entry into orbital space flight this Milestone will be critical in determining whether blue origin can evolve from a suborbital player to a formidable competitor in the orbital launch market the stakes are incredibly high if new Glenn succeeds it could Herald a new era for blue origin allowing them to compete more directly with established giants like SpaceX on the other hand if they fail to deliver they may find themselves relegated to suborbital flights indefinitely a limitation that would be difficult to overcome in an industry where're reaching orbit is The Benchmark of success as we await the outcome of the NS 26 Mission and the debut of new Glenn the question remains can blue origin rise to the Challenge and secure its place among the orbital Elite or will they remain grounded at suborbital altitudes the coming months will be pivotal in answering this question stay tuned for further updates as we continue to follow blue Origins journey and the broader developments in the space industry now let's shift our Focus to Europe for an update on the recent delay with the RFA or rocket Factory osberg following a testing incident RFA has decided to postpone its Maiden flights originally planned for this year after losing part of its rfa1 rocket during a static fire test yonas Kelner an RFA attendee announced that they won't be firing another first stage this year and the first test flight has been pushed to next year this delay comes after the company had initially scheduled the mission for September rfa's Chief Operating Officer and co-founder Stefan Bank explained that the plan was to to conduct a hot fire test of the stage with all nine engines however one of the eight engines that ignited successfully experienced a very unusual anomaly likely a fire in the oxygen pump which is notoriously difficult to contain the fire quickly spread to neighboring engines and despite an emergency stop the damage escalated beyond what the system was designed to handle leading to catastrophic failure the visible fire jet from the Rocket's side suggested a damaged engine propellant manifold marking the point of no return for the test with these findings RFA now faces the daunting task of building a new Boost and conducting extensive testing to stay on track for next year's schedule developing Rockets is a challenging Endeavor and this young company has many hurdles ahead it'll be interesting to see how they navigate these challenges moving forward well folks that's about it for today's episode thank you so much for tuning in and as always this has been Kevin from great SpaceX until next time keep looking up