View Single Post
  #8  
Old December 18th 03, 06:24 PM
Derek Lyons
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Space Program Needs The Right Stuff

h (Rand Simberg) wrote:
Fox: "In avoiding risk, we almost ensure failure." In some ways,
that's the most important message.

And of course, the Langley vs Wright theme (analogy with government
versus private theme) prevailed throughout.


Hyman Rickover may debate you on that. The conspicuous *lack* of
failure in Naval Reactors compared with the well documented
failures[1] of commercial reactors provides an interesting counterpart
to your themes.

[1] The technical failures like Fermi 2 and operator failures like
TMI, not the political failure of the industry overall.

Hmm... Rickover and Webb, strong individual leaders focused on a
fairly narrow goal vs. the more political animal that was NASA
post-Apollo. Food for thought.

D.
--
The STS-107 Columbia Loss FAQ can be found
at the following URLs:

Text-Only Version:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq.html

Enhanced HTML Version:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html

Corrections, comments, and additions should be
e-mailed to , as well as posted to
sci.space.history and sci.space.shuttle for
discussion.