Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum - View Single Post - Why I do not expect any people to walk on Mars until about 2100

Ilya · #8 (**permalink**) 18-February-2008, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djellison

Wrong. Fail.

"I was always aware of the risk, as most of us, almost all of us, have been. We always knew that space flight was risky; we always viewed it as risky. I've never viewed it as something that was routine or operational."
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/pre...amarda_04.html

" It's a fact of existence that exploration is dangerous, and we have learned that yet again. But we knew it anyway."
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/pre...binson_04.html

"We take spaceflight for granted, and it's still pretty darn dangerous,"
http://www.aol.in/news/story/2007061...011/index.html

All of these quotes are from astronauts preparing to fly right after Columbia disaster. The only time when nobody can pretend it is safe. You don't see such quotes in 1990's. Not because astronauts were unaware of risks, but because saying it out loud was bad PR. How long after Challenger did it take for NASA to slip back into "all is pefect" mode?

Quote:

"It is a risky activity."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...092301691.html

You omitted what Griffin said immediately afterward:

Quote:

Incredibly so . . . It is a risky activity.

And people in this country don't seem prepared to accept that?

Correct. Now, part of the country doesn't seem prepared to accept it because generations of upper-level NASA managers have tried to characterize the shuttle as routine and safe, and it is not routine, and other than in the sense that a mountain climber would use the word, it's not safe.

Yes, Griffin is being honest here. He is an exception. The rule are "generations of upper-level NASA managers".