Jim Bridenstine Ordered the Upcoming Safety Review of SpaceX and Boeing

Jim Bridenstine, NASA’s Administrator, ordered the upcoming safety review of SpaceX and Boeing, which was reportedly triggered by Elon Musk’s behaviour on comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast in September, as reported by The Atlantic.

Christian Davenport, from The Washington Post, first reported the order of that review, which is slated to begin in 2019 and take months to complete. Davenport specified three unnamed officials, who said that top NASA brass was angry with Musk, who had sipped whiskey and smoked weed on The Joe Rogan Experience.

Davenport talked to Bridenstine, who said he supported the review but did not say who ordered it.

However, at a meeting with reporters at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. that took place on Nov. 29, Bridenstine said he was the one who set everything in motion, as per The Atlantic’s Marina Koren, who was in attendance.

According to Koren, Bridenstine said during the meeting that Musk’s behaviour was not helpful, and it did not inspire confidence. Bridenstine added that the leaders of these organizations need to take that as an example of what to do when you lead an organization that’s going to launch American astronauts.

SpaceX and Boeing both have multibillion-dollar contracts to fly NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX will deploy its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule to accomplish this, while Boeing will use their United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets (at least at first) and a capsule known as the CST-100 Starliner.

The first orbital test flights of Crew Dragon and Starliner are presently set to take place early next year, with crewed demo missions to begin in mid-2019.

Furthermore, Bridenstine emphasized that Musk’s behaviour wasn’t the only instigator of the upcoming investigation. During yesterday’s meeting, he said that he had wanted to initiate workplace-safety reviews of both companies even before the SpaceX founder and CEO went on the Joe Rogan Podcast (which was not a crime because recreational marijuana use is legal in California, where the podcast was recorded). As per Bridenstine, reviews like these are a necessary and appropriate step when launching humans into space.

https://www.space.com/42594-NASA-chief-SpaceX-Boeing-safety-review.html

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Source: Asgardia Space News