Re:Is This Wise? (Score 2, Interesting)

This is silly. Even a return of 10 lottery winnings out of 200 doesn't mean your odds are 1 in 20. It just means you were lucky. The odds are based on the total number of tickets sold. This is a very bad analogy. As for the shuttle, the design is fairly safe. It is the implementation and follow-up that sucks. Even a perfectly safe car can't be saved if there is an idiot behind the wheel. The Challenger disaster was not a design "flaw". It was launched outside of it's specs. A stupid "human" error. The Columbia on the other hand shows a serious flaw. These foam pieces have apparently come off in several flights. NASA simply decided that if it wasn't a problem before, it wouldn't be again. Once again, we have poor judgement as the primary cause of the accident. No design, no matter how perfect can be made to prevent human error...unless the humans are removed from the decision making process. One thing you can do though is simplify the design. This allows fewer opportunities for stupid human errors. I think this is what they are suggesting. Seperating the crew from the cargo allows for two much simpler designs to be flown. Plus, the majority of the focus can be spent on the crew vehicle without worrying about the cargo. I wholeheartedly disagree with the assumption that NASA cares more about cargos than people. The fact is, they have lost several cargos over the past few years on Atlas and Titan rockets. It's no big deal. Some satellite builders actually build 2 at a time just in case they lose one. The price of the "2fer" is what is quoted as the price of the satellite, although they actually built two. Usually, you never hear of them talk about the 2nd one because it simply isn't newsworthy" On the otherhand, when people die, people at NASA lose jobs, careers, and lots of people look down on them. There are huge investigations, congressional inquiries, and flights stop. This is not beneficial to the organization, so it is always in their best interest to protect the lives of the crews. To think otherwise is just plain ignorant.