The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has come out with its annual report, much of which deals with commercial crew, and Clark Lindsey has some concerns. I share them, and may update the book to include this.
[Update a while later]
Here’s one statement in the ASAP report with which I strongly concur:
In the view of the ASAP, it is time for all stakeholders to reach a consensus on what the Nation is attempting to accomplish in human spaceflight and then fund that effort adequately and consistently.
And we’re a long way off from such a consensus.
It seems to me folks need to start remembering the great Super Chicken line, usually delivered after his sidekick was blown up, run over or suffered some other mishap – “You knew the job was dangerous when you took it Fred”.
NASA flew several unmanned Mercury missions before sending up a man. That was understandable because it was all so new at the time. There were only 2 unmanned Gemini missions and several unmanned Apollo missions. Of course, the Shuttle was never flown unmanned. One Apollo crew was killed while still on the launch pad and two crews were killed on the Shuttle. So, what exactly are NASA’s credentials (and credibility) when it comes to spacecraft safety?
Larry,
The same as they are for ALL space exploration or development. They are the Great and Power NASA – Wizard of OS (Outer Space) 🙂
So just ignore the funny little man you see behind the curtain pulling political levers 🙂