- Would YOU Fly On The Shuttle?
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- There are many people, just like after the loss of Space
Shuttle Challenger, who are questioning whether it is safe, or prudent,
to continue the space program. They ask if the Shuttle fleet is sufficiently
safe to carry precious human beings into orbit. There will always be some
soul searching after a tragic disaster such as occurred on February 1,
2003.
The fact of the matter is, space flight is not safe. It never has been.
Perhaps it will be one day, but for the time being, all space activity
is EXPERIMENTAL. Experimental programs are by definition dangerous to human
life and limb. In all such experimental programs, down through the history
of the human race, some people HAVE been lost during the learning process.
I guarantee there will be more lives lost in the space program. Since the
second half of the Twentieth Century, humanity has been learning how to
live and work in space. The answers are not all in. Forty years of space
travel by humans is only a beginning. There is still a LONG way to go before
space travel is as safe as crossing the street. Crossing the street, by
the way, is not exactly safe either.
Program managers are being put on the spot right now. The Shuttle contractors
will be closely examined. The entire remaining fleet of Shuttles is grounded
indefinitely. The future of the International Space Station program is
in limbo. The schedule for supply and construction is right out the window
at the moment. The wreckage of Columbia is still being searched for in
the piney woods of northeast Texas. Hundreds of questions will be asked
and, we hope, answered. It will take time to sort out exactly what happened
on that cold winter morn. At this point in time all we REALLY know is that
something went dreadfully wrong.
The real question of the day is: "Should we keep sending people up
there to risk possible death on these 20 year old space craft?" After
all, two of them have been tragically lost in less than two decades, for
a combined total of 14 dead.
My answer to this is: We Must! The Astronauts know this. They strap into
their seats in full knowledge of the risk they take. They do this willingly,
and joyfully. Humanity cannot, and should not, stop going into space. Space
is our future, and our destiny. It is our nature to explore the unknown,
and space is the greatest unknown there is. If we shrink back from this
future now, we may never regain the momentum of the last 40 years. Irreplaceable
minds and skills will drift away from the space program. Equipment will
continue to age, and depreciate. We must forge ahead. Keep our program
on the cutting edge. Sure, there are problems to be addressed, and this
is as it should be. We all must learn from our mistakes. But in learning
from them, we must also make improvements in order to insure that these
mistakes shall not be repeated.
So, I ask you dear reader. Would YOU fly on the Shuttle? I would.
If offered the chance TODAY to join a Shuttle crew and rocket into orbit,
I'd go in a heartbeat...that's where the future is!
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- Comment
- Rough Shuttle Safety Calculations
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- From Dave Nelms
- 2-6-3
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- Number of flights: 100
- Number of shuttles: 5
- Number of flights per shuttle: 20
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- Number of shuttles lost: 2
- Shuttles lost per flight: 2%
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- Number of commercial airline flights per day: 20,000
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- If commercial airlines crashed at the same rate as the
shuttle:
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- 400 lost jumbo jets per day
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- Comment
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- From Mitch Robinson
- 2-6-3
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- Would I fly on the shuttle given the opportunity? You
can bet your fat aunt sally's mustache I would......right after they finally
solve a technological dilemma that has stalked the STS program from launch
number 1: falling ice/insulation from the External Tank.
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- There is, after all, a nebulous difference these days
between "risky" and "reckless".
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- Regards,
- Mitch Robinson
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