Boeing's Starliner Now Has 5 Leaks While Parked Outside the ISS (opens in new tab)

I don't think a "leak" would cause decompression sickness. Decompression sickness is caused by bubbles forming when pressure decreases too quickly for the body to expel now-excess nitrogen. A slow, gradual decrease would provide plenty of time to expel excess nitrogen.

A leak in a pressure vessel is basically how deep saturation divers re-acclimate to standard pressure, and they're making a much, much larger change in pressure (maximum of 14.5 psi delta on the ISS, ~429.06 for a saturation diver at 1000 ft). It's really a delta P of 10 psi though, since the American space suits are 4.5 psi. There's not really much point in talking about decompression sickness without a space suit; they'd die of lack of O2 or exposure even without DCS.

Current recommendations for space walks are a 4 hour denitrogenation period breathing 100% oxygen, and that's pretty cautious. That's based on the denitrogenation rate of the slowest tissues; it could likely be done significantly faster without presenting dramatically increased risks of DCS, and especially so if you only need to avoid type 2 DCS where the bubbles present a risk of dying.

I read that article earlier, but it didn’t mention Boeing so I wasn’t questioning it.

But where Boeing goes, bad things follow.

That's a big old "citation needed". As far as I'm aware that's a crackpot conspiracy theory - just because some fringe lunatic alleges something is enough to honestly decribe that something as "alleged".

I don't mind flying on a well-tested 777 (i.e. one that's been in service for years). It's a great design from before Boeing really went down the shitter, and is probably the backbone of most carrier's long-haul intercontinental fleets today.

But there's no way I'd fly as an astronaut on Starliner. I have very little confidence it won't have a catastrophic failure, considering how Boeing's been doing things lately.

https://www.amiflyingonaboeing.com/ (but remember that planes can sometimes change)

A statement as completely absurd as it always was.

If it’s Boeing, I’m boating!

In a sense, yes. The leaks shouldn’t be there, which means the craft is out of spec. Being out of spec in one area makes you consider how good/thorough the design and testing was. The next step is to consider what else isn’t working or might break sooner than anticipated. And that is not a pleasant thought.

You purchased an airplane. How would you feel when on the solo flight home you begin to hear odd sounds "under the hood"? The plane may still be flying ok but might you wonder for how much longer? It is not the noise that's the problem but rather what that noise predicts.

Yeah this is one of those times my lizard brain wants to say, “that’s terrifying” but my not-as-lizard brain says, “you don’t have a frame of reference. What’s normal?”

No it's not.

> While Starliner is docked, all the manifolds are closed per normal mission operations preventing helium loss from the tanks,

> “We can handle this particular leak if that leak rate were to grow even up to 100 times,”

Starliner wasn't selected based on merit in the first place so only after people will die will it become impossible to pretend otherwise. What incentive do the current decision makers have to own up to their mistake? They'll double down first, watch.

Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.