Boeing Employees Feel 'Humiliated' as NASA Turns to SpaceX for ISS Astronaut Rescue

TapTechNews August 27th news, according to NYPost, employees of the US aerospace giant Boeing feel 'humiliated' about NASA's decision to send SpaceX's spaceship to rescue the astronauts trapped at the International Space Station (ISS).

Boeing's Starliner has helium leaks and thruster malfunctions, unable to safely return Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams to Earth. Therefore, NASA decides to use SpaceX's CrewDragon to carry out the rescue mission.

Reports say that an unnamed Boeing employee said that this incident is another blow to the company, which has already been strongly criticized by the outside world due to a series of commercial flight accidents this year.

We have experienced too many embarrassing things recently and become the target of public criticism. This incident is even worse, the employee said, We hate SpaceX and always speak ill of them, but now we need them to save us. This is so shameful, I feel embarrassed and panicked.

Due to the plummeting morale, this employee claims that many people at Boeing are blaming NASA for shaming them.

Boeing insists that the Starliner can safely return the astronauts to Earth. However, after more than two months of testing the spaceship, NASA decided to turn to SpaceX, and the spacecraft is still docked at the ISS currently.

According to TapTechNews, the Starliner had helium leaks before launch and became more severe when docking with the ISS, and the spaceship's thrusters also had multiple malfunctions. Although many problems have been resolved, NASA says the safest way is for Wilmore and Williams to return to Earth on SpaceX's CrewDragon in February 2025.

We believe the Starliner can bring them home safely, but NASA doesn't want to take risks, the Boeing employee said, They also have their own PR problems and don't want to see two astronauts die.

NASA's commercial crew flight program manager Steve Stich said that the negotiation with Boeing boils down to different views on risk. Boeing has not commented on NASA's decision. Instead, the company said it will focus on ensuring that the Starliner can return to Earth safely.

Boeing initially signed a $4.5 billion contract with NASA, but it has now overspent by $1.5 billion. NASA hopes to use the Starliner as a second mode of transportation to the ISS in addition to SpaceX's CrewDragon, and the problems of the Starliner may threaten this future plan and further damage Boeing's reputation in the aerospace industry.

Since the beginning of this year, Boeing has been plagued by safety issues. At that time, a Boeing 737MAX9 passenger plane of Alaska Airlines lost a door panel during flight due to the lack of four key bolts. Boeing is also facing several other aircraft malfunction incidents, and at least 20 whistleblowers have come forward to express concerns about the company's safety and quality issues, and some of them have died.