ClaimsRodney Brooks

“I'm sure it will happen eventually for both companies.”

Rodney Brooks, blog author 1 January 2020 Predictions Scorecard, 2020 January 01 (rodneybrooks.com) archived copy

Prediction Technology

Both Boeing and SpaceX will eventually achieve crewed capsule flight.

Unresolvable The public record could not settle it.

Prediction: Statements about events outside the person's control, checked once they fell due: did they come true?

The second judge would not resolve this claim; the verdict shown is the first judge's.

What would count as true or false

'Crewed capsule flight' means an orbital flight with astronauts aboard Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon respectively. A crewed launch to orbit counts even if the capsule later came back without crew. True: both Starliner and Crew Dragon have flown with crew to orbit as of the evaluation date. Mostly true: does not apply. Mixed: does not apply. Mostly false: only one of the two companies has flown crew in its capsule. False: neither has.

Set before the research began.

Evidence (4)

  1. E1 Demo-2 Launch: Setting Forth on a Historic Journey - NASA NASA · 30 May 2020

    “with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, at 3:22 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.”
  2. E2 LIFTOFF! NASA Astronauts Pilot First Starliner Crewed Test to Station - NASA NASA · 5 June 2024

    “NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely in orbit on the first crewed flight test aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.”
  3. E3 Boeing Starliner Spacecraft Completes Successful Launch PRNewswire (Boeing press release) · 5 June 2024

    “became the first people to launch to orbit inside a Boeing [NYSE: BA] Starliner, lifting off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:52am ET”
  4. E4 Next Crewed Boeing Starliner Flight Not Until 2028 SpacePolicyOnline · 28 September 2026

    “By contrast, Starliner has delivered only one crew to the ISS, Butch and Suni, on the 2024 Crew Flight Test (CFT).”

Reasoning

The evidence shows that astronauts flew to orbit aboard Boeing's Starliner in 2024 [E2][E3][E4]. No evidence item names SpaceX or Crew Dragon: E1 describes only a crewed 'Demo-2' launch. So the evidence does not establish that both capsules have flown crew, which the criteria require.

Cite this claim

Rodney Brooks, “Both Boeing and SpaceX will eventually achieve crewed capsule flight.” (said 1 January 2020). Verdict: unresolvable. Reliability API, claim c_ecc6934d0156, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_ecc6934d0156

This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.

Reply to this claim

For Rodney Brooks, or someone speaking for them: a correction or counter-evidence. Replies are read before anything is shown; an approved reply shows your name, role, date, statement and link. Your email address is never shown and is deleted 30 days after the decision (privacy).

More prediction claims by Rodney Brooks

  1. Resolved false Prediction 1 January 2024
    “Thereafter it is expected to fly with a crew once a year.”

    After its first crewed test flight in April 2024, Boeing's Starliner is expected to fly with a crew once a year.

  2. Mostly true Prediction 1 January 2023
    “I am concerned that Starship will not be ready for the proposed 2025 Lunar Landing of astronauts and that will really delay humankind’s return the to Moon.”

    Brooks said he was concerned that Starship would not be ready for the proposed 2025 crewed lunar landing, and that this would delay humankind's return to the Moon.

  3. Resolved true Prediction 9 July 2020
    “We will not have level 5 autonomous cars on our roads in 2020.”

    There will be no level 5 autonomous cars on roads in 2020.

  4. Resolved true Prediction 1 January 2018
    “The most recent prediction has been 4th quarter 2018. That is not going to happen.”

    Two paying customers will not go on a loop around the Moon on a Falcon Heavy in the 4th quarter of 2018.

  5. Mostly false Prediction 1 January 2026
    “Things at this stage are looking good for Artemis to fly in February 2026.”

    The Artemis II crewed lunar flyby looks on track to fly in February 2026.

All of them

Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.