WOEING: Shock Revelation: Starliner Can’t Undock From Space Station Safely.

Nobody is saying why, exactly, Boeing rewrote the software in such a way that it can’t do something as simple as undocking from the International Space Station, but as you will recall the first unmanned flight of the spacecraft was an utter disaster, plagued by software issues that prevented it from reaching the station at all.

The next flight, too, was unmanned, and managed to dock and undock from the station, and while not perfect by any means it managed to accomplish its mission.

So Boeing changed up the software to ensure it couldn’t the next time?

What are they, the Secret Service or something?

We suffer from an epidemic of institutional incompetence. Possibly because nobody ever gets fired for screwing up.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Hungary and Poland to join India on Ax-4.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX Superdragon and Starship Improvements.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Rocket Lab launches private Earth-observing radar satellite to orbit (video, photos).

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China launches second secretive high orbit internet satellite.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Mind The Launch Gap.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA to soon resume awards of lunar lander missions.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites; fourth liftoff in week.

SPACE: NASA Considers Boeing Starliner or SpaceX Dragon to Return Astonauts.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: The private space station era is dawning.

“At long last we are entering a new chapter in our exploration of space, that of private space stations in different orbits, with different objectives,” said Jeffrey Manber, President, International and Space Stations for Voyager Space.

The group’s Starlab Space LLC is a global joint venture between Voyager Space, Airbus, Mitsubishi Corporation, and MDA Space. It’s a “no assembly required” venture to be hurled into orbit via a SpaceX Starship.

Manber told Space.com that the motivating factor for Starlab is the end of the International Space Station (ISS), due to be de-orbited in 2030.

“The ISS has already been in orbit for over two decades, well past its expected life-time,” Manber said. “As wonderful an orbiting station as it has been, it is well past its prime and like an old house, in increasing need of repairs.”

That dawn of private station stations has been bolstered by NASA and the U.S. Congress, said Manber, creating a pathway to assure a robust and cost-efficient space program in low-Earth orbit.

Things really get exciting when you factor Starship into the mix. It promises to drastically reduce launch costs, allows for much larger-diameter structures, and as a result, reduced-cost designs for space station modules.

HMM: Study finds space industry growth uncorrelated to larger markets. “The space industry is largely insulated from the variations in other parts of the economy, a new analysis found, which could make it attractive to investors seeking to diversify their portfolios.”

I suspect this is because a lot of it is government-funded, and the rest is just on a long timeline for various necessary reasons.

SPACE: Possible signs of life on Venus surprise scientists: ‘They shouldn’t be there.’

“Phosphine and ammonia have both been suggested as biomarkers, including on exoplanets. So finding them in the atmosphere of Venus is interesting on that basis as well.”

The findings of ammonia on Venus — referred to by some experts as Earth’s “evil twin” — are “arguably” even more critical for the discovery of life, according to Clements.

“We’re a long way from saying this, but if there is life on Venus producing phosphine, we have no idea why it’s producing it,” he said.

“However, if there is life on Venus producing ammonia, we do have an idea why it might be wanting to breathe ammonia.”

That seems like a pretty thin reed to hang expectations of life on.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Study finds space industry growth uncorrelated to larger markets.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Chinese scientists outline major cislunar space infrastructure project.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: 25 SpaceX Starship Launches Per Year and Booster Tripling Saturn V Power.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: With a landmark launch, the Pentagon is finally free of Russian rocket engines.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX fires up Starship spacecraft ahead of 5th test flight (photos, video).

VIDEO: SpaceX fires up Starship spacecraft ahead of 5th test flight.

WE’RE BACK, BABY! SpaceX roars back to orbit barely two weeks after in-flight anomaly: “It was incredible to see how quickly the team was able to identify the cause of the mishap.”

WOEING: Retired Astronaut Admits Boeing’s Starliner Has Trapped Crew in Space.

With two NASA astronauts still stranded in space for weeks, officials at the space agency have insisted that the troubled Boeing Starliner, plagued with technical issues, can take the two explorers back to Earth.

So, why haven’t they already?

An unnamed retired astronaut tells The Atlantic the obvious truth that NASA has been dancing around since the beginning of this space boondoggle: it’s just too risky right now.

“Of course they don’t feel comfortable putting them in the vehicle,” the retired astronaut told the magazine, referring to the Starliner, which transported the astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) back in June and is meant to return them back home. “Otherwise they would have put them in it already.”

Maybe it’s time for NASA and Boeing to take their lumps and abandon Starliner.

GREAT MOMENTS IN KENNEDY-ESQUE CENTRISM: Kamala Harris campaign creating ‘space’ for ‘white dudes’ to ‘be honest’ about role in history.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Sierra Space conducts second full-scale burst test of inflatable module.

SPACE SUBMARINE TIME: New Calculations Uncover a Vast Ocean Beneath Pluto’s Ice.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: South Korean resort island looks to become home to space industry.

SPACE: SpaceX to resume Falcon 9 Starlink launches.