Comments on: Reaction to the Mojave accident http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2007/07/28/reaction-to-the-mojave-accident/ Space tourism, public space travel, and the beginnings of a new industry Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:50:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: T.Sgobba - IAASS President http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2007/07/28/reaction-to-the-mojave-accident/#comment-185657 T.Sgobba - IAASS President Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:50:26 +0000 http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2007/07/28/reaction-to-the-mojave-accident/#comment-185657 The Personal Spaceflight industry needs to pay more attention to safety and leave out the bold and generic statements we have heard up to now. Cutting costs is essential for the PS industry development but shall not involve cutting on safety and betting on risk acceptance by the customer. In the words of Jerome Lederer, father of aviation safety: "Of the major incentives to improve safety, by far the most compelling is that of economics. The moral incentive, which is most evident following an accident, is more intense but is relatively short lived.” IAASS - International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety The Personal Spaceflight industry needs to pay more attention to safety and leave out the bold and generic statements we have heard up to now. Cutting costs is essential for the PS industry development but shall not involve cutting on safety and betting on risk acceptance by the customer. In the words of Jerome Lederer, father of aviation safety: “Of the major incentives to improve safety, by far the most compelling is that of economics. The moral incentive, which is most evident following an accident, is more intense but is relatively short lived.”

IAASS - International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety

]]> By: Peter Shearer http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2007/07/28/reaction-to-the-mojave-accident/#comment-181748 Peter Shearer Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:47:28 +0000 http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2007/07/28/reaction-to-the-mojave-accident/#comment-181748 "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." ~John F Kennedy We choose to pursue space tourism despite the naysayers, despite the hardships to come, despite the dangers and despite the tradegy. "Space is there and we will climb it." Not for profit, but because we long to go, we dream of experiencing it for ourselves. Those men died doing what they loved, doing something to achieve their dreams and our dreams. They are our HEROs and we honor them by continuing their work despite those that would have us give up. WE as a human species are a species of explorers. We have grown and survived by exploring and expanding, both in territory and knowledge... We've explored the earth and the seas, now we will venture out into space... We will not leave it to a select few and we will not leave it to R/C toys (as much as I applaud the long lasting rovers on Mars). Exploration is dangerous. It ALWAYS has been, and always will be. We accept that. "Space is a risky business." ~Gus Grissum “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
~John F Kennedy

We choose to pursue space tourism despite the naysayers, despite the hardships to come, despite the dangers and despite the tradegy. “Space is there and we will climb it.” Not for profit, but because we long to go, we dream of experiencing it for ourselves.

Those men died doing what they loved, doing something to achieve their dreams and our dreams. They are our HEROs and we honor them by continuing their work despite those that would have us give up.

WE as a human species are a species of explorers. We have grown and survived by exploring and expanding, both in territory and knowledge… We’ve explored the earth and the seas, now we will venture out into space… We will not leave it to a select few and we will not leave it to R/C toys (as much as I applaud the long lasting rovers on Mars).

Exploration is dangerous. It ALWAYS has been, and always will be. We accept that.

“Space is a risky business.” ~Gus Grissum

]]> By: RKM http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2007/07/28/reaction-to-the-mojave-accident/#comment-181693 RKM Sat, 28 Jul 2007 16:41:27 +0000 http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2007/07/28/reaction-to-the-mojave-accident/#comment-181693 What is truly striking is how easily the hard learned lessons from over 50 years of launch vehicle engineering development and manned spaceflight can so easily be forgotten, even to the point of arrogantly ignoring the most fundamental safety practices (e.g., Q-D). Apparently these days all it takes to garner credibility is media hype and a committed following of armchair engineers and hobbyist rocketeers. Frankly, the fact that this accident could even be allowed to happen is an outrage, and this company's amateurish practices need to be fully scrutinized by the appropriate Government agencies, most specifically the FAA and the California State Fire Marshall. Statements have been released in the past that this is a risky affair and lives may well be lost. That is the attitude of madmen that have no business participating in this emerging industry. Their bold arrogance aside, should these businesses really have a “license to kill”? Let’s get it straight people, Scaled and VG are not pushing any new frontier, they are developing a business to sell souped-up airplane thrill rides to the likes of Paris Hilton. And they have leveraged mankind’s intrinsic need of exploration to cloak that simple reality. Some small progress may occur as a consequence, but only because of the business area they are working in. Fact is, they are in it to make a profit – at minimal expense and investment, like any other business.. Privatizing space travel so far has the appearance of a fool’s endeavor, being mostly led by people with no more qualification to participate other than having a large checkbook. Should any group with true professional expertise ever gain a financial foothold and enter the arena, all this foolery will be embarrassingly obvious. Unfortunately, it appears this emerging industry will be killed by these wannabe rocket scientists before it has a real chance. The victims of this tragedy trustfully relied on the competence of their leadership. I hope the relatives of the poor souls that were so needlessly and uselessly lost, and those victims maimed and hurt have enough sense to sue Scaled’s preverbal rear ends off. Sickening. What is truly striking is how easily the hard learned lessons from over 50 years of launch vehicle engineering development and manned spaceflight can so easily be forgotten, even to the point of arrogantly ignoring the most fundamental safety practices (e.g., Q-D). Apparently these days all it takes to garner credibility is media hype and a committed following of armchair engineers and hobbyist rocketeers. Frankly, the fact that this accident could even be allowed to happen is an outrage, and this company’s amateurish practices need to be fully scrutinized by the appropriate Government agencies, most specifically the FAA and the California State Fire Marshall. Statements have been released in the past that this is a risky affair and lives may well be lost. That is the attitude of madmen that have no business participating in this emerging industry. Their bold arrogance aside, should these businesses really have a “license to kill”?

Let’s get it straight people, Scaled and VG are not pushing any new frontier, they are developing a business to sell souped-up airplane thrill rides to the likes of Paris Hilton. And they have leveraged mankind’s intrinsic need of exploration to cloak that simple reality. Some small progress may occur as a consequence, but only because of the business area they are working in. Fact is, they are in it to make a profit – at minimal expense and investment, like any other business..

Privatizing space travel so far has the appearance of a fool’s endeavor, being mostly led by people with no more qualification to participate other than having a large checkbook. Should any group with true professional expertise ever gain a financial foothold and enter the arena, all this foolery will be embarrassingly obvious. Unfortunately, it appears this emerging industry will be killed by these wannabe rocket scientists before it has a real chance.

The victims of this tragedy trustfully relied on the competence of their leadership. I hope the relatives of the poor souls that were so needlessly and uselessly lost, and those victims maimed and hurt have enough sense to sue Scaled’s preverbal rear ends off. Sickening.

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