I have a recollection that at some time within the past few years, Burt Rutan made a statement to the effect that if we weren’t killing a few people to open up space we weren’t pushing hard enough. But a diligent search of the Intertubes doesn’t turn up anything like that. Does anyone else recall this, and if so can they provide a citation? Or was I just imagining it?
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I have no reference to give you, but I remember the same quote.
Rand, your quote sounds very much like one I heard in the mid 1980s, from General Abrahmson, running the SDIO shop at that time. He noted in front of a congressional committee that SDIO was not having *enough* failures in its programs to make him happy. This implied, of course, that this meant SDIO was not pushing the technical envelope hard enough to get the best value for the taxpayer’s dollars invested in BMD technology. IIRC, the newsies made this into another one day SDIO bash, not explaining the implication part of his message.
Is it possible you are remembering this? Or possibly Burt was doing a riff on this sort of statement?
Regards,
Tom Billings
Is it possible you are remembering this? Or possibly Burt was doing a riff on this sort of statement?
No, it was definitely Burt. Whether or not he was repeating Abrahamson I have no idea.
I remember the quote – and I don’t follow the space industry very closely. Which means there’s a high chance I heard it (or heard it repeated) -here-. Somewhere.
It comes from an email he was sending around in late 2004/early 2005. I recall it because I got in trouble with my then-management for having the temerity actually to concur with Burt’s reasoning.
Well, it must have been quoted somewhere on the Internet, but I’ll be hanged if I can find it.
He (kind of )says the opposite thing in this 2005 testimony to congress, reprinted here: “www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=16256”
Rand, try googling “rutan” and “fatalities” and “risk”. You see quotes like this “”The early days of aviation were not risk averse,” Rutan pointed out. One of the first few links might be what you are looking for.
Rand, are you looking for something like this: “dotsub.com/view/6f5ef2a3-9fe5-44f0-ac13-d0dbf6ebe4e4/viewTranscript/eng”
which is a transcript of Rutan’s standard pro-innovation speech which mentions inevitable fatalities, or are you looking for something that is, pardon the way I put this, just a tad more pro-death? (ok, pro-risk would be more fair.)
I’m looking for something close to what I wrote.
Rand,
Burt’s brother Dick made a similar statement in a 2005 interview.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/513/1
“Risk and progress go hand in hand. Without risk, there is no progress. And without progress, there is no America
Could that be the one you are thinking of?
It was in a documentary video about the private rocket companies of the mid-90s (Pioneer, Roton, etc.). He said it in an interview close to the end. I think if I still have the tape, I can try to dig it out this evening if that’s useful.
Yes, it would be helpful, Karl, if it’s citable.
Could that be the one you are thinking of?
No, that’s not it, Tom.
This may be what you’re looking for:
http://www.awesome80s.com/Awesome80s/Tech/Aviation/86Voyager.asp
Sounds like the quote was in reference to the Voyager aircraft.
Yes, that does look a lot like it, but I was sure that it was more recent, and in the context of space. It may do, though. Thanks.
FWIW, I also recall the statement in much the form you wrote.
Was it perhaps in the Black Sky doc that one of the cable channels did on Spaceship One?
Okay, much digging later–the tape I have is from a TLC series “Science Frontiers”, episode name “Star Fleet”, copyright 1996. The line is at the end, in reference to X-prize and dangers of letting non-NASA people in space.
“I think if no one dies going after this prize, why then we’re not going out and truly searching for new ideas.”
Don’t know if it’s the one you wanted. I hope it’s useful.
I believe I remember reading Col. Boyd made a statement about combat pilot training not killing enough pilots.
After reading the comments above I think this is not what you’re looking for after all, but he makes the same point by implication in a youtubed TEDtalks titled “Entrepreneurs are the future of space flight.” This must be a theme that’s been on his mind more than once.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwfSENkvJXY
First point starts 3 minutes in, when he says people tried up to 30,000 aircraft designs in a 4 year period after 1908, and when a plane crashed and killed its pilot, they said “well, that didn’t work, try again;” then says we’ve really only tried 2 or 3 designs in space flight. Later I recall he says something about true orbital space tourism being bad business currently since 4 percent of everyone who has left the atmosphere have died.