Clearing up some misconceptions among the enthusiasts. Spaceflight isn’t “safe.” It’s also not “unsafe.” That any activity is either of those things in any absolute sense is a myth. It is all relative.
I’m assuming that Ed Wright wrote this, but it’s not clear.
I don’t know who wrote it, but they did a favor not linking back to the original site. Yeah, that paragraph had multiple errors in each sentence. You want absolute safety, see a psychiatrist for a padded room. If you want an understanding of FAA guideance of spacecraft, don’t listen to the first folks, rather click Rand’s link.
The closest thing to absolute safety anyone is likely to see is when they’re in the grave. Nothing can hurt you then because you’re already dead. Nothing is absolutely safe for the living. Even airline travel, as remarkably safe as it is, is far from absolutely safe.
It’s impossible to eliminate all risk. The best you can do is to manage and reduce risk. A prerequisite for that is understanding risk, which is what makes the misinformed cheerleaders so troubling.
I’ve lost friends and associates in aviation accidents on four occasions. I survived one of those occasions only because I happened to miss the flight. I’ve also experienced some potentially homicidal behavior with horses. Usually accidental. There was only one occasion on which it was deliberate, and even that one I consider to be my fault — he was having a really bad day, and I should have noticed it.
It’s when you start to believe nothing can go wrong that you’re most likely to get into trouble.
“Usually accidental”
Just what the horses want you to think.
While no activity is completely safe lots of activities are unsafe, like walking off a 200 foot cliff.
Equestrian eventing is a very good analogy to use when describing the kinds of risk our private astronauts will be experiencing. As Ed described, all thing can look however as with new spacecraft, and horses there will always be some unknowns. All you can do is be prepared. I remember watching our girls ride around an arena with no hands to improve their balance. This didn’t inoculate them from the danger it just made them better prepared, however the risk was still there.