Re: Rocket Planes; How Safe?

simberg.interglobal@xxxxxxxxx (Rand Simberg) wrote:

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Rocket_Plane_Roulette_999.html

No. As usual, Bell has no idea what he's talking about. It's stupid
to extrapolate the safety of modern suborbital passenger vehicles from
fifty-year-old research programs.

If you actually bother to read the article you'll see he doesn't do
that - in fact he specifically states that such extrapolations are
likely to be worthless.

But he does point out that none of the companies currently racing to
enter the suborbital market have much in the way of experience, as
well as providing some other useful information and insights later in
the article. Frankly, I agree with his point that the startups with
engineering experience and/or little flight experience are a cause for
concern over safety.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL
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