Commander of Starliner backs out

WDD

WDD

Final Approach
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Vintage Snazzy (so my adult children say)
So... commander of first crewed Boeing Starliner set to launch next June after years of training backed out of the trip to space because it conflicted with a family wedding.

Now if I was the suspicious type I’d wonder how much doubt this guy has in Boeing and Starliner to walk back from a trip to space.

Wedding venues are hard to get but really........?
 
Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts...
 
Salty said:
Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts...
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It wasn’t his fault.
 
Well judging by their recent track record... and it's a lot more difficult to get into space than it is the troposphere
 
Salty said:
Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts...
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Blues Brothers?
 
WDD said:
So... commander of first crewed Boeing Starliner set to launch next June after years of training backed out of the trip to space because it conflicted with a family wedding.

Now if I was the suspicious type I’d wonder how much doubt this guy has in Boeing and Starliner to walk back from a trip to space.

Wedding venues are hard to get but really........?
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Why do you assume it was his choice?
 
Lindberg said:
Why do you assume it was his choice?
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Possible it wasn't and he was given a face saving out by telling everyone it was his decision. But I know other astronauts have been taken out of rotation without that cover story.
 
Salty said:
Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts...
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Oh, Jake!
 
WDD said:
Possible it wasn't and he was given a face saving out by telling everyone it was his decision. But I know other astronauts have been taken out of rotation without that cover story.
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Or maybe he was giving a face-saving reason to Boeing :)
 
What does he know about the ship ?
 
weilke said:
What does he know about the ship ?
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I would assume a good amount since he would be expected to react to failures and produce viable alternate methods that could only happen because of a deep understanding of the systems.

or maybe he was expected to be spam in a can..
 
He’s actually an ex NASA astronaut who has been employed by Boeing for the last 6 years or so working on developing the Starliner. He would have been the first non-government / commercial astronaut.
 
Seems kinda cruddy on both ends. They both have invested a lot of time in each other. Im sure there will a lot more to this story
 
WDD said:
Possible it wasn't and he was given a face saving out by telling everyone it was his decision. But I know other astronauts have been taken out of rotation without that cover story.
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commercial ones?
 
Maybe he is signing up to pilot StarShip to Mars for SpaceX ;)
 
Article I saw earlier said he's not leaving Boeing or the project and that he's committed to seeing the success of Starliner.
 
idahoflier said:
WDD said:
He’s actually an ex NASA astronaut who has been employed by Boeing for the last 6 years or so working on developing the Starliner. He would have been the first non-government / commercial astronaut.
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Mike Melvill may disagree with you on that... ;-)
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One earns astronaut wings as soon as the ship rises past 100 km, but you can't join the international organization for astronauts/cosmonauts (the Association of Space Explorers) unless you've flown at least one orbit.

https://www.space-explorers.org/global

Ron Wanttaja
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
Article I saw earlier said he's not leaving Boeing or the project and that he's committed to seeing the success of Starliner.
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Yes. He’s still backing out of first crewed flight.

He says he’s committed - but his behavior suggests to me he’s not. And/ or he’s not thinking it’s ready.

Think about it- missing this because it overlaps a date picked for a wedding that they don’t want to change?

If that is the real reason the guy should be fired outright.
 
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red4golf said:
I would assume a good amount since he would be expected to react to failures and produce viable alternate methods that could only happen because of a deep understanding of the systems.
Click to expand...

That's why this is quite concerning for the viability of the project.
 
WDD said:
So... commander of first crewed Boeing Starliner set to launch next June after years of training backed out of the trip to space because it conflicted with a family wedding ...
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Where is the reference? Please post the link to the story.
 
Sounds like the guy has his priorities straight to me.
 
wanttaja said:
One earns astronaut wings as soon as the ship rises past 100 km, but you can't join the international organization for astronauts/cosmonauts (the Association of Space Explorers) unless you've flown at least one orbit.

https://www.space-explorers.org/global

Ron Wanttaja
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Interesting group of eligible people not on the list. John Glenn. Sally Ride. Entirely voluntary membership, I guess.
What does the (L] mean?
 
murphey said:
Interesting group of eligible people not on the list. John Glenn. Sally Ride.
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Only two of the crew of STS-107 (Columbia's final mission) are listed. The FAI criteria are widely recognized, voluntary membership in an organization is not part of the criteria.

Nauga,
unqualified
 
nauga said:
Only two of the crew of STS-107 (Columbia's final mission) are listed. The FAI criteria is widely recognized, voluntary membership in an organization is not part of the criteria.

Nauga,
unqualified
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John Glenn did many orbits in 1998 when he was on STS-95 Shuttle. Doesn’t that count?
What is FAI.
 
murphey said:
John Glenn did many orbits in 1998 when he was on STS-95 Shuttle. Doesn’t that count?
What is FAI.
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Absolutely it counts! I was adding to your list, not rebutting it. :)

Nauga,
piling on
 
Ah....thanks. Looked up FAI. Silly definitions. When I worked on the solar weather satellite program, 50 km was used as the definition of space. Someplace, I still have the tshirt “Anything below 50 km is for wimps”
 
donjohnston said:
Neil Armstrong is missing from the list?!?!
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As Nauga pointed out, the ASE is an organization you join, not something you automatically became a part of. Glenn, Ride, Armstrong, etc. would be eligible for membership, but didn't join for some reason.

I went to an ASE banquet once (solely as a seat-filler, you understand, though the salmon was good). Lots of Russians wearing their medals on their civilian suits, and lots of Americans with astronaut badges. Did meet several Gemini- and Apollo-era astronauts.
ron small.jpg
Ron Wanttaja
 
What would Spock think.??

55764388.jpg
 
My understanding is that the original schedule for the flight would not have conflicted with the schedule for his daughter's wedding. The delays, and undetermined length of the trip, ran into a previously planned event.

How many of you have had a daughter get married? I have, and had NO say in virtually anything related to it. It was a Mom/daughter show from start to finish. To this day (17 years later) I have no idea what the total cost was. Way beyond my pay grade to know that number. Just pay the bills, shut up and play my part as father of the bride. However, I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Have I skipped an event due to family reasons? Yes, I have. In 1973 I was invited to join the 6th Army ROTC Rifle Team which was competing at Camp Perry. Those of you who are target shooters know what a major event this is. Why didn't I go? Because it conflicted with a wedding I was expected to attend. Mine. And 47 years later I'm still convinced I made the right choice.
 
If it just affects you - I can somewhat see it.

But this is something he volunteered for knowing schedules for launches are going to change. This is something important to the nation. Something only a micro percentage of people get to do. Something that the nation has paid millions of dollars in training. Being an Astronaut requires extreme commitment.

A date for a wedding this far out can be moved. Daddy’s little princess can figure it out.
 
WDD said:
Being an Astronaut requires extreme commitment.
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Two other things it requires:
1) The knowledge that you can be pulled from a mission for a variety of reasons and that there is an alternate who has trained to take your place, and
2) The ability to tolerate people who have no idea what your job entails telling you you're doing it wrong.

Nauga,
from the 50 yard line
 
I heard he was going to something test fly something safer in the Valdosta area....:D
 
WDD said:
So... commander of first crewed Boeing Starliner set to launch next June after years of training backed out of the trip to space because it conflicted with a family wedding.

Now if I was the suspicious type I’d wonder how much doubt this guy has in Boeing and Starliner to walk back from a trip to space.

Wedding venues are hard to get but really........?
Click to expand...

Must be one hell of an expensive wedding.


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