Spaceflight, as much as it is sophisticated military missions, is just as much a matter of bulling one’s way and seat-of-the-pants flight as it is to be at the technology leading edge. To cite an example, take, for instance, NASA’s recent Boeing Starliner test flight and how extremely choreographed flights can be met with surprise bugs, and just how important in-the-moment decision-making is.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore piloted the Starliner into orbit on June 5, 2024, on a mission simple in conception: a high-profile, short flyby to the International Space Station to demonstrate that America could get crews to space two different ways. That was the simple demonstration, but it would prove to be a test of patience, of engineering brains, and of operating adaptability.
Glitches did not start until the ship was at the station. It’s one of its reaction control thrusters that malfunctioned, and helium leaks in the propulsion system were discovered by technicians.
These were not single technical problems—but instances of systemic technical glitches that plagued the program for decades, ranging from software bugs to hardware quirks.
The mission control at NASA had a difficult decision to make: try to bring back the astronauts safely on a spaceship that had been critically defective, or take the safer, wiser course of action. After careful examination, testing, and outside expert opinion on the capability, but beyond the crew, it was decided that they would return Starliner without astronauts and abandon Williams and Wilmore on the ISS to await a follow-up SpaceX Crew Dragon to transport them home safely.
What started as a temporary mission turned out to be six months in stationing. The astronauts did not twiddle their thumbs, though, as official members of the Expedition 71/72 crew, operating experiments, maintaining station systems up and running, and even flying Starliners routinely.
Their extended presence included rationing station resources, maintaining resupply missions, and crew rotation—pretty much anything any military deployment whose deployment is being stretched way, way longer than projected.
The crash also marked the beginning of the success of redundancy. NASA Commercial Crew Program, to its credit for having something better than a single spacecraft, weathered the mission despite Starlinger’s mistakes. With Dragon as a backup, all was not halted on its wailing wheels.
As it turned out, however, the mission also prompted more theoretical questions about whether aerospace reliability even exists in the first place. Boeing’s problems with its Starliner, and thus with Boeing itself, created controversies about whether engineering practices and quality control of the day are playing catch-up with what spaceflight in the modern era requires.
Ultimately, the Starliner soap is better than jammed thrusters and helium valves. It is an exercise in adaptability, determination, and sound judgment in adversity. To the engineers, planners, and astronauts, it is a lesson that, however technologically advanced the equipment is, it will never fly without sound decision-making and adaptable troubleshooting.
In the end, space triumph, or any ambitious initiative period, depends on whether teams can collaborate to not be surprised, become clever when they do not know where the road lies ahead, and simply keep going, whether fulfilling a space mission, running a high-technology venture on earth, or extricating oneself from a team in combat.