Jon S. Berndt wrote:
Taylor Dinerman's article in "The Space Review" this morning raised
some
questions for me.

... I'd suggest that the SRB has earned some respect.
Regardless, the heavy lift forms of the Delta and Atlas that were
mentioned
also use SRBs, no? Multiple ones? Now, which launcher might be more
reliable?


In addition to the flight safety issues that make
solids a bigger challenge for human launches, there
is a perhaps more important ground safety issue.
Accidents on the ground have killed far more people
than have died in space missions. The presence of
"live" SRBs in the VAB has added cost to the shuttle
program due to safety limitations, for example. A
worst-case fear has long been the unlikely-but-not-
impossible case of an SRB lighting up within the
VAB during processing.

- Ed Kyle