NASA Investigation Finds Boeing Hindering Americans' Return to Moon
NASA's OIG report highlights Boeing's mismanagement and workforce issues causing delays and cost overruns in the SLS Block 1B project, jeopardizing the Artemis program and future space exploration.
Read original article
A recent report from NASA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has identified significant mismanagement and workforce inadequacies at Boeing, which are causing delays and increased costs in the development of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1B. The report highlights that Boeing's quality control practices are subpar and that its workforce lacks sufficient training, leading to a projected cost increase for the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) from an initial budget of $962 million to an estimated $2.8 billion by 2028. The OIG also noted that the EUS's delivery could be delayed by up to 14 months due to ongoing quality control issues, including unsatisfactory welding practices attributed to inexperienced technicians. Despite these findings, NASA has refrained from imposing financial penalties on Boeing, arguing that such actions would contradict their contractual terms. The OIG has made several recommendations for improving Boeing's quality management system and ensuring compliance with contract requirements, but NASA has only partially agreed to these suggestions. The report warns that failure to address these issues could jeopardize the Artemis program and NASA's broader goals for deep space exploration.
- NASA's OIG report blames Boeing for delays and cost overruns in the SLS Block 1B project.
- Boeing's quality control and workforce training are cited as major issues affecting project timelines.
- The estimated cost of the Exploration Upper Stage has ballooned significantly from its original budget.
- NASA has not imposed financial penalties on Boeing despite the identified shortcomings.
- The report emphasizes the potential negative impact on the Artemis program and future space exploration efforts.
Related
Retired Astronaut Admits Boeing's Starliner Has Trapped Crew in Space
NASA astronauts are stranded in space due to technical issues with Boeing's Starliner, delaying their return to Earth until at least August amid safety concerns and quality control criticisms.
Boeing's Starliner has cost at least twice as much as SpaceX's Crew Dragon
Boeing's Starliner program has lost $1.6 billion since 2016, with delays pushing the first crewed flight to June 2024. NASA may clear Starliner for return, but operational missions are delayed until February 2025.
Boeing's Starliner proves better at torching cash than reaching orbit
Boeing reported a $125 million loss on its Starliner spacecraft, totaling over $1 billion in losses. Delays due to technical issues may extend financial losses, with the next flight expected in August 2025.
A new report finds Boeing's rockets are built with an unqualified work force
NASA's report reveals Boeing's Exploration Upper Stage is seven years late and costs have surged to $2.8 billion due to workforce issues. The EUS is vital for the Artemis program.
NASA inspector general gives damning assessment of Boeing's quality control
NASA's report highlights Boeing's inadequate quality control and training, leading to budget overruns and delays in the SLS project, while the Starliner capsule faces operational issues, raising concerns about the moon program's viability.
- Many commenters express frustration with Boeing's bureaucratic inefficiencies and mismanagement, suggesting it hinders progress in space exploration.
- There is a call for accountability for management decisions that have led to delays and cost overruns.
- Some commenters question the feasibility of the U.S. landing on the moon by 2025, citing historical delays in infrastructure projects.
- Several comments highlight a preference for SpaceX over Boeing, emphasizing its superior performance and cost-effectiveness.
- Concerns are raised about the broader implications of Boeing's issues on American technological leadership and innovation.
37 comments- Western Industry.
- The blue-collar middle class
- The Middle Class
- Our health care system
- Our education
- Western Economic Leadership.
- Social Mobility
Now they are busy destroying western technology, science and innovation on their never-ending selfish wealth-extraction quest.
They convinced us that our homes are investments, so they can fleece us with their usurary schemes. So, what next? our organs?
They convinced us to exchange our pensions for the privilege of being the mark on a market where the sharks like them do whatever the fuck they want, from blatant insider trading, to pump and dump schemes, to outright fraud, having for all practical purposes bought the SEC a long time ago.
What they will kill next?
How long are we going to transfer wealth to those slimmy sweet talking ignorant greedy bean counters?
Our daily work is like being in a mad house because almost everything is subordinated to the the most sacred goal of cooking the next quarter numbers to ensure we maximize executive bonuses, and fuck the long run! crazy projects started, spin offs, merges, projects cancelled, company killing layoffs, fuck long term value generation! they want more and more, and more, and they fucking want it right now! the fucking bonus gollums.
Everything is fucked in our society but executive compensation. Xerox, HP, IBM, Boeing... How many other proud symbols of our economy and civilization are we going to let them destroy?
> “According to NASA officials, the welding issues arose due to Boeing’s inexperienced technicians and inadequate work order planning and supervision,” the OIG says. [...]
Welders are highly qualified and well-paid craftsmen. Wouldn’t surprise me if they’d been hit particularly hard by management that doesn’t value tenured, expensive employees.
Turns out they're just a giant company suckling on the teat of mommy government and have developed severe structural dysfunction that prevents them from effectively executing their plans.
In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control and those dedicated to the goals that the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.
RIP Jerry. A Step Farther Out is one of my all time favorites.
Interesting that instead of commenting on engineering or technology issues, this is basically NASA bureaucrats complaining about Boeing bureaucrats' procedures. The whole SLS program is so bureaucratized it's amazing they can get anything of the ground, and not surprising that Space X is beating them in performance and cost by 3X.
The legacy defence contractors have been watered with a hoover dams worth of taxpayer money for far too long and have little to show for it.
I think it's safe to say at this point that Boeing is hindering Americans. Full stop.
I'm a very proud American, my grandfather worked on Apollo, and was a submariner in WWII. Recently Boeing has not made me proud.
This vision is the last thing that the people profiting from conflict want you to see.
That money and time could be spent building better rovers. We could likely send 10 +rovers to different planets for exploration at the same time + cost factor.
Spirit & Opportunity spent ~21 years combined on Mars.
We could have an army of rovers for years on Moon and build habitable bases. It'd be cheaper than sending a few human astronauts to the Moon for a few hours of "we did it" videos.
Your government will soon find a reason to sue Airbus (corruption, unfair competition, etc.) in order to extract its secrets and supply them to Boeing, and voila, Airbus' technological lead will be wiped out.
See Alstom's story for a manual of the perfect economic imperialist : https://www.economist.com/business/2019/01/17/how-the-americ...
If outside contractors and suppliers are causing delays while you pay them, the poor manager is you.
Can we please stop giving my tax dollars to them? Maybe it's better than building functioning weapon systems?
Related
Retired Astronaut Admits Boeing's Starliner Has Trapped Crew in Space
NASA astronauts are stranded in space due to technical issues with Boeing's Starliner, delaying their return to Earth until at least August amid safety concerns and quality control criticisms.
Boeing's Starliner has cost at least twice as much as SpaceX's Crew Dragon
Boeing's Starliner program has lost $1.6 billion since 2016, with delays pushing the first crewed flight to June 2024. NASA may clear Starliner for return, but operational missions are delayed until February 2025.
Boeing's Starliner proves better at torching cash than reaching orbit
Boeing reported a $125 million loss on its Starliner spacecraft, totaling over $1 billion in losses. Delays due to technical issues may extend financial losses, with the next flight expected in August 2025.
A new report finds Boeing's rockets are built with an unqualified work force
NASA's report reveals Boeing's Exploration Upper Stage is seven years late and costs have surged to $2.8 billion due to workforce issues. The EUS is vital for the Artemis program.
NASA inspector general gives damning assessment of Boeing's quality control
NASA's report highlights Boeing's inadequate quality control and training, leading to budget overruns and delays in the SLS project, while the Starliner capsule faces operational issues, raising concerns about the moon program's viability.