The Houston Chronicle recently quoted NASA's Deputy Administrator, Fred
Gregory, on the Bush/Griffen shuttle transformation (to "exploration"):

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3252489

As I read it, Fred currently talks and advocates a 'fast and loose'
approach to putting men and women in space (as long as he's sitting in
Mission Control or NASA Headquarters, and not in the cockpit):

"We've got to do dangerous things," Gregory said. "We've got to take
risks."

Challenger's Ghost