I don't know how it happened, but *some* good news got into the press recently. Fire the editor!
I just heard someone on Radio 4 having a go because the current head of NASA said that all that went wrong was some bits of foam falling off the tank. FFS, space is extremely dangerous! Rockets are a barely controlled explosion with a tin can full of people on the front -- it really should be better understood that it's not at all like jumping on a 737 or an A319 and zipping across to Ibiza for a fortnight. Rather, think 'bungee jumping from a moving crane doing 80MPH along the North Circular at rush hour'. Yes. That's it. Given enough money and time, spaceflight will become as reliable as current air travel (which is to say, mindbogglingly safe), but we're a long way from that yet and it is extremely unfair to poke NASA with a stick while it is actually trying to do that stuff.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 01:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 05:39 pm (UTC)I don't know how it happened, but *some* good news got into the press recently. Fire the editor!
I just heard someone on Radio 4 having a go because the current head of NASA said that all that went wrong was some bits of foam falling off the tank. FFS, space is extremely dangerous! Rockets are a barely controlled explosion with a tin can full of people on the front -- it really should be better understood that it's not at all like jumping on a 737 or an A319 and zipping across to Ibiza for a fortnight. Rather, think 'bungee jumping from a moving crane doing 80MPH along the North Circular at rush hour'. Yes. That's it. Given enough money and time, spaceflight will become as reliable as current air travel (which is to say, mindbogglingly safe), but we're a long way from that yet and it is extremely unfair to poke NASA with a stick while it is actually trying to do that stuff.
*disengages rant mode*
*engages comparative sanity*
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-10 09:36 am (UTC)