Boeing's Starliner Crew Flight Test delayed again, path forward unclear

It&#x27;s now 4 1&#x2F;2 years since Starliner&#x27;s nearly-disastrous first (uncrewed) test flight, 4 years since SpaceX&#x27;s successful <i>crewed</i> test flight, and 2 years since Starliner&#x27;s second (uncrewed) test flight.<p>At what point does NASA need to pull the plug on Starliner, and start looking for second-source Earth-LEO passenger service from companies which can actually do the d*mned job?

<i>&gt; The Crew Flight Test of Boeing&#x27;s Starliner spacecraft is no longer targeting Saturday, May 25. We&#x27;re awaiting official word from NASA and Boeing on the next possible launch date and for more information regarding the path forward on the helium leak.</i><p>What happened to good or even okay spacecraft design? A good design would mean this is easy to troubleshoot and would not impact the launch date because it could be fixed well ahead of time. How was the U.S. &#x2F; NASA so much more successful in space 50 years ago compared to today? It was a scrappier time, to say the least.

Starliner remains the single project that keeps SLS from wearing the stupidest NASA project crown.

I see the jobs program continues apace…