If you insist on using that term to heighten the disdain for Boeing, I can’t stop you, but exaggeration compromises honesty and accuracy and diminishes the message. Understand that I hold no love for Boeing at all, on the contrary, I am sickened by what they have become, but that message is not delivered as strongly if my message makes reasonable people’s eyes roll. We can state the actual facts and Boeing will make themselves look bad.

You want to go one better? The fact is that Starliner did not strand those astronauts, NASA did. Discuss.

Seems no worse than using the term "inconvenience" like you do.

Indeed, "stranded" more properly conveys the situation.

Per Webster:

strand: to leave in a strange or an unfavorable place especially without funds or means to depart

Space is a strange and often unfavorable place and they don't have the means to depart as of yet. Seems to fit. They can't leave per their expectations which is the root issue here.

Being stuck in outer space for an extra 8+ months fails to meet the definition of an "inconvenience" in my book.


The only thing NASA did was to set the risk threshold, which was known before the mission. Boeing couldn't meet it with a capsule which had numerous failures on the way up. Boeing's fault for sure on this.

The Starliner has flown 3 times, each with fairly serious failures. They don't have the benefit of the SpaceX strategy of testing the capsule first as a cargo ship.

Mike C.

I love ya Mike, but I have to give you a little ribbing over this:

Written on June 14, 9 days after the launch, when the plan was still to come back via Starliner in a few days. At that point, it seemed like a short delay over the scheduled return.

On June 20, 15 days after launch, NASA said it would be until at least June 26th before they come back.

Then time dragged on and on with no decision, always seemingly that the Starliner could take the crew home shortly.

On August 24, 80 days after the launch, NASA made the decision to send the capsule back unmanned. Until that date, returning in the Starliner was still potentially an option.

When your ride home leaves and there isn't another one, that's "stranded" for sure. That must have been a weird feeling for the crew.

Mike C.

I’m still mad and perplexed by this failure. Thrusters are hardly a new technology. I get that space is hard, and manned spaceflight is intolerant of error. But, man, what a f-up on Boeing’s part. This is the company that built the Apollo Command/Service Module, and a few or the major Saturn V components…how they mighty have fallen.

Boeing is not North American.

I thought Marquardt build the Apollo thrusters. They're gone, too.

They kinda are! North American became North American Rockwell, which became Rockwell, which became Boeing.

ROFLMAO.

Well, when trying to get home from Frankfurt, trains, cars, and feet won't make it to SFO and I don't think cruise ships dock in Frankfurt.

I was one of the luckier ones on that flight. Since I had documents to let me into Germany, I was able to leave the airport. However, due to a quilting convention (not kidding) there were no hotel rooms in all of Frankfurt. It was late in the evening, and they didn't have anywhere to put us.

I wound on a 3 hour bus ride to Bad Kissingen to spend the night at a hotel that was closed (off season). Not by my choice. I had corporate travel working all night to rebook me.

I dunno, forced transportation to the remote areas of the Bavarian by the German authorities, feels pretty stranded, especially versus the biz-class ride home I was looking forward to.

The worse off ones were people connecting internationally Frankfurt-SFO and beyond who didn't have documents to enter Germany. They could not leave the controlled area of the airport. 747 holds a lot of international travellers. Whole families had no choice but to sleep on the floors of the airport.

So, it wasn't the end of the world, but yeah, I was stranded for a while anyway. Thank goodness for corporate travel, who had me rebooked through a different series of flights in the morning. The line at the counter to get rebooked was insane for those who didn't get rebooked overnight.

Those astronauts are stranded, period.

And I tend to believe Elon Musk's account of what happened with the offer to go get them.

Boeing is FUBAR too. Once great company, now a giant mess.

They kinda are! North American became North American Rockwell, which became Rockwell, which became Boeing.

Seems no worse than using the term "inconvenience" like you do.

Indeed, "stranded" more properly conveys the situation.

Per Webster:

strand: to leave in a strange or an unfavorable place especially without funds or means to depart

Space is a strange and often unfavorable place and they don't have the means to depart as of yet. Seems to fit. They can't leave per their expectations which is the root issue here.

Being stuck in outer space for an extra 8+ months fails to meet the definition of an "inconvenience" in my book.


The only thing NASA did was to set the risk threshold, which was known before the mission. Boeing couldn't meet it with a capsule which had numerous failures on the way up. Boeing's fault for sure on this.

The Starliner has flown 3 times, each with fairly serious failures. They don't have the benefit of the SpaceX strategy of testing the capsule first as a cargo ship.

"The astronauts were only supposed to be up there for 8 days and now have been there for 8 months.

SpaceX could have sent up another Dragon and brought them home 6 months ago, but the Biden White House (not NASA) refused to allow it.

President Trump asked to bring them back as soon as possible and we are doing so."

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/189742050 ... x5Y4w&s=19

Political propaganda.

The astronauts are returning on the capsule that was planned in Aug 2024 with the return of Crew 9. There has been no change in that schedule since Trump took office. They are slated to return March 19th.

Musk's post gives the impression that Trump had ask for and arranged something special. That is not the case, and thus very deceptive.

Mike C.

Was no one paying attention over the past seven months? Short term memory loss?

This had been arranged and planned well before the election and Musk knows it because they are using his spacecraft for the purpose.

Well, the 'stranded' astronauts seem to believe a return at an earlier date was possible, but rejected by the Biden Admin....

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/strand ... ue-mission

I guess they didn't consult with BT before making that statement!