- Boeing’s Starliner crew shakeup becomes a little more apparent as we know one of the reasons Commander Chris Ferguson is stepping down.
- The astronaut had family commitments in 2021, including her daughter’s wedding.
- The mission has been delayed many times, and the coronavirus caused a lot of issues, which made things worse for the astronaut.
It was only a few days ago that astronaut Chris Ferguson announced that he would step down as commander of the first Boeing Starliner crew test flight in 2021. This is a big deal, as the Starliner has been repeatedly delayed and any further hiccups only serve. To put the company even further ahead of its rival SpaceX, which has already made promises to NASA with Crew Dragon.
At the time, Ferguson’s statement was relatively vague. He noted that he had previous commitments that he could not ignore. Now, there are a lot of things that a person commits to, but there aren’t a lot of places that can’t be canceled for space travel. Thanks to Boeing’s statement, we now know that Ferguson’s feet are firmly planted in the ground.
According to a company statement, one of Ferguson’s commitments to attend is his daughter’s wedding. It… really makes a lot of sense.
As I stated in the first article covering this story, the coronavirus epidemic has seriously disrupted many, many schemes in the United States and around the world. In fact, NASA and Boeing have noted that the Starliner program was also affected by the epidemic, and given the history of project delays and setbacks, this is not surprising.
I am embarking on a new mission, keeping my feet firmly planted here on earth and prioritizing my most important crew – my family. I will still work hard #Startliner Team and NASA_Astronauts On our crew. pic.twitter.com/PgdhPqwYQS
– Christopher Ferguson (astro_furg) October October 7, 2020
On top of that, wedding venues have taken a notoriously strict stance on cancellations this year, and from personal experience, I know that despite the spread of the virus, there is a staggering number of venues rescheduled or canceled without charging a hefty fee. It’s a bad situation all around, and while we may not know exactly what Ferguson’s circumstances are, I am hesitant to go to the conclusion that some astronauts or his daughter are “selfish” in the end, as some conclusions have argued.
In all likelihood, the original wedding plans (and any other commitments Ferguson made for 2021) did not interfere with Starliner’s original planned crew launch. Remember, the launch of the Starliner has been delayed several times, and the big shock of the landing test mission Glitch significantly pushed back Boeing’s timeline. Now, the launch (as it currently stands) is scheduled for a time filled with Ferguson’s family events, and he decides to put his family first.
But don’t worry, the way Boeing’s Starliner program goes, crew launches may be delayed again, so you never know who might be in that spacecraft when you finally launch.
Mike Wehner has reported covering the trends of VR, wearables, smartphones and future opportunities on technology and video games over the past decade. Most recently, Mike served as a tech editor at the Daily Dot, and has featured in USA Today, Time.com, and numerous other web and print outlets. His love of reporting is second only to his game addiction.
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