> “NASA had developed a peculiar kind of attitude: if one of the seals leaks a little and the flight is successful, the problem isn’t so serious.
this quote is also feels pertinent to the Starliner decision to launch. They knew there was helium, but they just decided there was more helium for the mission than was leaking. so the acceptable risk bar seems to be pretty low.
It's prevalent all over the aerospace industry. It's also why the Columbia was lost (foam shedding happens but it's "in family" ie - it's a known issue that hasn't prevented a flight from being successful).
Complicated systems are always having some issues that aren't to spec. The difficulty is assigning an appropriate risk to them.
I've heard people who design 5+ sigma aircraft who refuse to fly on it because they know of some system that isn't up to spec in their eyes; in that case, the opposite is true: they're assigning a risk that is probably too large given the data.
this quote is also feels pertinent to the Starliner decision to launch. They knew there was helium, but they just decided there was more helium for the mission than was leaking. so the acceptable risk bar seems to be pretty low.