I think that this is bogus: ““The FAA, Department of Transportation, has been doing human spaceflight safety for many years…”
The FAA has never been responsible for human-spaceflight safety. In fact, under the learning period, it has no legislative authority to do so. It has never done mission assurance for either satellites or participants. Does Rich DalBello really subscribe to this statement?
It also begs the question that any federal agency should be responsible for the safety of commercial spaceflight participants, either on the way to orbit, on the way back, or in space. The debate we should be having is not which agency, but whether the federal government should have responsibility at all at this point in time. I don’t see how Article VI requires it. I’m tempted to write an op-ed.
Glenn Reynolds remembers Estes rockets. I share his hope that the new space age is motivating boys (and girls) to do more of this and less social media.
And yes, the “suicide” does look very suspicious. After reading this, there is little I’d put past these “leaders.”
[Evening update]
On the other hand, how can a lot of these stories about wheels falling off, or engine parts falling off, or engines catching fire, be attributed to Boeing? They don’t build the engines. These kinds of things have to be attributed to the operator. Which says that the whole industry is fucked, probably because DEI.
The LCS fiasco is just a symptom of a much larger problem, which probably infects the entire U.S. military, and no one is being held accountable. It’s feeling a lot like 1939, and people are going to die unnecessarily, if we can even win the war.