Kyle,

While much of what you say is true, it seems to me that there's no urgency
to the program: no great goal, no pressure.

so therefore there's no tendency to accept risks and press on.

As an example, we accepted the deaths of the apollo 1 fire becasue we, a
majority of the nation - were still serious about winning the Race to the
Moon. So we were willing to take risks and did.

But it seems to me that most of the nation ignores the Space program and
therefore sees no reason to accpet risks - there' sno Big Goal that
inflames people's minds.

And, therefore, no one sees a need to hurry or risk.

Gregg


Kyle Boatright wrote:


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
After more than two years, and less than a month from scheduled launch,
NASA decides to pull the shuttle off the launch pad, transport it back
to the vehicle assembly building, and install a HEATER?

This took two years to figure out?

I swear, Gene Kranz must shake his head in disbelief at what has become
of our space program. Can anyone imagine NASA going to the moon with
this kind of hand-wringing, risk averse management?

Here is the full article:
************************************************** **************

NASA Delays Post-Columbia Flight Again
By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer


NASA's big problem with the shuttle is that they over promised 35 years
ago
to get it funded. They promised a safe, inexpensive, reusable space truck
with quick turnaround time. Arguably, they missed each of those marks.
In addition, they tried to sell space travel as routine, and people hold
them to that standard.

Unfortunately, space travel is anything but routine, and the shuttle (or
any other space vehicle) has more than a few single points of failure that
have fatal consequences.

NASA, Congress, and the US public need to recognize and admit that if
we're going to continue manned space flight, we will suffer losses. We
need to accept that fact and move forward without all of the hand wringing
and political posturing that we get with every accident. Not that we
shouldn't strive for a perfect safety record, but even if NASA had
unlimited funding, riding rockets would still dangerous.

For me, it comes down to this (choose 1):

- Continue manned space flight and recognize that people are likely to be
killed from time to time, despite the best efforts to prevent accidents.

- Discontinue manned space flight.

KB

--
Saville

Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/backstaffhome.html

Restoration of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/SBOATrestore.htm

Steambending FAQ with photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/Steambend.htm