One story that has not received much press coverage recently is the travails of the ill-fated Boeing Starliner. As a former NASA employee, reading about the problems of a Starliner return trip to earth for astronauts Wilmore and Williams is very disconcerting. I am reminded of the title of a 1960s TV show, “Lost In Space.”

Originally scheduled to be an eight-day inaugural crewed flight has turned into a more than 60-day ordeal for the astronauts. There’s talk that the astronauts may have to remain at the Space Station until February, when Space-X’s Dragon spacecraft might have to be called upon to execute a rescue mission.

Space technology is a critical investment for our country’s future. We are currently engaged in planning a manned return trip to the moon. We are not alone in this quest. China also has similar plans. It is critical that we have two independent sources for launching flights to the moon and further. There are no repair persons in space. Having a backup space craft, ready to go in an emergency, is critical. Imagine if the Space-X Dragon didn’t exist. We could be forced to go to the Russians “hat in hand” to get our astronauts returned. Putin would relish the publicity of having to rescue American astronauts and would exact an extreme quid pro quo.

It’s time to let the engineers at Boeing, and not the bean-counters, lead. The U.S. needs to be a leading aerospace manufacturer, and we’ll need Boeing’s help to get us there.

Samuel Rosenthal
Portland