In article <fVcPI.1622$805....@fx43.iad>,
jfmezei...@vaxination.ca
says...
>
> SpaceX was barely done bolting its launch tower together when it
> stacked its mega rocket on a launch platform still hot from the welding
> a couple days ago. Cowboy, perhaps.
>
>
> SpaceX delivered Dragon 1 quickly. Dragon2 had some delays, but nothing
> very dramatic, and they even had time to do cosmetic stuff like
> futuristic interior and fashionable launch/entry suits.
>
> Meanwhile, Boeing Starliner and SLS are taking years to get their act
> together.
>
>
> What intrigues me is that when you have a narrow window to launch to
> Mars, Vulcan, Jupiter or other celestial body, NASA magically launches
> on time. But for certain projects like SLS, it seems like interminable
> delays.
ULA, and now Falcon, launch interplanetery probes. That's why they
generally launch on time.
> Are these "make work" projects and NASA/politicians have no
> incentive/intention to have deliverables because those are not critical
> and prefer to stretch the pork $ over as many years as possible for job
> creation purposes ?
>
> Or is Boeing/ULA truly incapable of delivering Starliner or SLS?
SLS is cost plus, so little incentive there.
Starliner is fixed price, so Boeing doesn't collect money until they
reach certain milestones. I believe that they get a payout with a
successful uncrewed test flight to ISS.
> Going forward, does this mean that whenver NASA needs something
actually
> done, it will go to SpaceX, and any work handed off to Boeing/ULA is
> just the result of lobbying with no deliverables expected?
No. Government contracts are competitively bid.
> If there is a competitive bid with both Boeing and SpaceX winning
> separate COTS contracts (eg Dragon/Starliner) does this now mean that
> NASA will base its mission plans on SpaceX hardware because it is the
> one that delivers while it will ignore Boeing from critical plath
> planning because it can't expect deliverables from them?
No. Government contracts are competitively bid.
Jeff
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