Walter Cunningham, who was a crew member on thge Apollo 7 mission wrote an excellent editorial in the Houston Chronicle today.
"Will an organization, unwilling to accept the risk of flying a truly great spacecraft in familiar Earth orbits, ever be willing to accept the inherent risks of landing humans on the moon, let alone sending them to Mars? Is NASA, today, a reflection of society's growing desire for a risk-free existence? With that attitude about risk, we would never have gotten to the moon and become pre-eminent in human space flight. NASA was founded to explore the unknown, evaluate the risks versus gains, and then take calculated risks to move our society forward.
Sadly, I think Mr. Cunningham is right. The United States would never have landed on the moon in 1969 if the attitude held by many in this country today was prevalent then.
Posted by Bob at March 17, 2004 08:37 AM