It is strange to feel bored by the fact that humans can build a giant tube of fuel, place other humans on top and then shoot them up to another tube, in space, where they can live more than a year, before hurtling back down to the Earth in a little capsule that heats up to thousands of degrees as it slams back into the atmosphere. Strange to feel bored by it, but common, and probably rational; that absurd process happens over and over through the year, with such regularity that it often barely even merits discussion.
That regularity has been speeding up. The sheer number of SpaceX launches has increased to such a degree that they have become mundane, as my colleague Anthony Cuthbertson wrote in an excellent piece from the space coast last year.
But, in many ways, it's better to be boring than interesting. At least when you're dealing with space.
Boeing has learnt that lesson with great clarity in recent weeks. Its Starliner is supposed to be a reusable spacecraft that can carry humans up to the space station and other future destinations, made in partnership with Nasa to compete with SpaceX's Crew Dragon; it was supposed to have its first launch in 2017, but that was delayed by two years and then failed, and then there was more delays.
Earlier this month, after yet more delays, it finally took off, carrying two Nasa astronauts to the International Space Station. And then there were more problems, of course, as the spacecraft started leaking as it flew to the ISS and then couldn't dock properly.
Now there are yet more issues. The crew were supposed to be free of the troubled mission on 14 June when the capsule would return to Earth; Boeing is tending to yet more problems, however, and they are now without a return date.
This being Boeing – which is also facing issues down here on Earth with its aeroplanes, around which some conspiracy theories have coagulated – the news has been met by a combination of intrigue and expectation. And there is something in the contrast with other companies: SpaceX's Crew Dragon seems much more reliable, to the point that it too has become a little boring.
Add to that the fact that both of those spacecraft are intended to replace the Space Shuttle, which began its work more than 40 years ago, and the fact that at the most superficial level we appear to have actually got less capability in space than we did when we went to the Moon, 55 years ago. In one sense, it feels like we should be able to treat these things as dull, much as we do making a journey in a car or making a phone call, both of which rely on astonishing technology of their own.
But it's not giving Boeing too much credit, or letting them off too much, to say that it is a reminder that none of this is easy, natural, or straightforward. Anyway it's not the kind of credit they'd want: Boeing could do with being a little more boring.
