Would YOU Fly On The Shuttle?

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The fact of the matter is, space flight is not safe. It never has been. Perhaps one day it will be, but for the time being, all space activity is EXPERIMENTAL. Experimental programs are by definition dangerous. In all such experimental programs, down through the history of the human race, some people HAVE been lost during the learning process. I guarantee there will be more. Since the second half of the Twentieth Century, humanity has been learning how to live and work in space. The answers are not all in. Forty years of space travel by humans in only a beginning. There is still a LONG way to go before such activity is as safe as crossing the street.

Program managers are being put on the spot right now. The Shuttle contractors will be closely examined. The entire remaining fleet of Shuttles is grounded indefinitely. The future of the International Space Station program is in limbo. The schedule for supply and construction is right out the window at the moment. The wreckage of Columbia is still being searched for in the piney woods of northeast Texas. Hundreds of questions will be asked and, we hope, answered. It will take time to sort out exactly what happened on that cold winter morn. At this point in time all we REALLY know is that something went dreadfully wrong. (This atricle written 3 February 2003, just 48 hours after the trajedy. For the final official explanation of what happened to Columbia, please click HERE)

The real question of the day is: “Should we keep sending people up there to risk possible death on these 20 year old space craft?” After all, two of them have been tragically lost in less than two decades, for a combined total of 14 dead.

My answer to this is We Must! The Astronauts know this. They strap into their seats in full knowledge of the risk they take. They do this willingly, and joyfully. Humanity cannot, and should not, stop going into space. Space is our future, and our destiny. It is our nature to explore the unknown, and space is the greatest unknown there is. If we shrink back from this future now, we may never regain the momentum of the last 40 years. Irreplaceable minds and skills will drift away from the space program. Equipment will continue to age, and depreciate. We must forge ahead. Keep our program on the cutting edge. Sure, there are problems to be addressed, and this is as it should be. We all must learn from our mistakes. But in learning from them, we must also make improvements in order to insure that these mistakes shall not be repeated.

So, I ask you the reader. Would YOU fly on the Shuttle? I would. If I were offered the chance to join a Shuttle crew and rocket into orbit, I’d go in a heartbeat!

That's where the future lies!

© 2003 Jeff Challender