My guess is that they have reached an unresolvable impasse with NASA on what they have to do and have laid off all their staff. Boeing must publicly report additional charges to end the program such as scrapping the vehicles and equipment and vacating the NASA building they are renting.

Here is what Boeing said most recently:

At September 30, 2024, we had approximately $240 of capitalized precontract costs and $257 of potential termination liabilities to suppliers related to fixed-price unauthorized future missions. Risk remains that we may record additional losses in future periods.

I was rewatching the Starliner tour conducted by Butch and Suni. Suddenly, my thoughts turned to how the Starliner looked and acted like the Millennium Falcon in "The Empire Strikes Back." Suni (hair) and Butch reminded me of Chewbacca and Han Solo. Even the new thruster firing solution reminded me of Han and Chewbacca doing the same to the Millennium Falcon.
The ISS became Cloud City (Sanctuary until a solution is found. Nelson became Darth Vader...ie.."I am altering the deal (mission)." "Pray I don't alter it any further." I really hope Boeing and AJR find a permanent solution to the thruster and helium issues. I think that the alternative thruster firing solution was a good temporary fix for getting the Starliner back to the ground. Han Solo ams Chewbacca would have been proud.
Now, let's hope that Starliner can break the speed record in getting to the ISS, set by the Soyuz craft. Yep. I never thought that Boeing would build a capsule version of the Millennium Falcon. 🤣🤣

My opinion is that Northrup-Grumman should purchase the Starliner program. This would add a crew capability to the already successful cargo contract.
Also, it would solve the question of Starliner having a follow-on certifed launch vehicle after the the A5.
NG is currently developing the Antares 330 and the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV), which are being developed in collaboration with Firefly Aerospace:

…just went dark. Anyone know why?

Did the astronauts have to quarantine before the launch on the Starliner? I know the launch was delayed multiple times so presume they stayed quarantine waiting for the next opportunity to launch. How long have they been on their own. Obviously won’t be coming back til February. Thanks

There was a live view of Starliner from ISS during yesterday’s broadcast and was wondering if there is extended footage available. It looks really cool as it appears to be a Nikon camera and was wondering if an astronaut shot it.

Nappi's comments, and Boeing's absence at the press conference, suggest Boeing is considering killing the program. Maybe I am overthinking the part where he said they will review and determine the next steps for the program. The new CEO has to look at this and all programs and review the return to shareholders. Does continuing Starliner make financial sense? And NASA cannot provide any commitment. There will almost certainly be a new administrator next year and the agency is now ruled by anonymous sources leaking to the press, not the administrator. So even if Nelson gave Boeing assurances, they would be meaningless. There is no way Boeing will ever commit to another flight test and it's questionable whether they will even spend the money necessary to fix the doghouse/thruster issues (the helium leak seems easier). Look for news of Starliner program layoffs before year-end.

Perfect flight home!

If I recall correctly Starliner returns to White Sands NM tomorrow. Will it be possible to see the return from the NM area? If so, what direction should on be looking from Northern NM?

Something I’ve been thinking about recently…

The most recent Soyuz MS has not had a stellar record. MS-09 had a hole drilled into its orbital module, MS-10 had a launch abort and MS-23 had a coolant leak (caused by a micro-meteorite impact), that forced Roscosmos to send a replacement Soyuz.

NASA was apparently spooked enough by all this that they first initiated their “SpaceX lifeboat” plan of strapping astronaut to the floor like cargo in the event of a future Soyuz failure and emergency evacuation. They’re using those same plans for Butch and Suni now.

With all of that said, NASA is planning to send Don Pettit on MS-26 and Jonny Kim on MS-27.

A couple of thoughts… Maybe NASA just trusts Soyuz more than Starliner. It’s a decades old design and while it’s had issues, they’re not major and they have a lot of built up trust.

Or, NASA doesn’t trust Soyuz all that much, but they think it’s critical to have access to the station. They’re concerned something will happen to Dragon/Falcon before Starliner is certified, and they need to have a way to get an astronaut to the station to do minimum maintenance on the USOS.

Is seems to me that the decision to fly Starliner back unmanned, the flaws, is representative of the attitude of perfectionism at NASA. They are also too objective.