So we might have to abandon the ISS for a while. It has been continuously inhabited since November 2, 2000. That’s pretty cool. We’ve had humans living in space continuously, every minute of every day, for almost 12 years! And now, because we’re big pussies, we’re going back to being a terrestrial species. While we wait for every single nut, bolt, screw, switch, wire and rivet of the Soyuz to be checked ad nauseum, we’re letting the final frontier get the last laugh.
I think we spend way too much time, money and effort making triple-redundant systems and taking this “failure is not an option” shit way too far. By definition, failure already isn’t an option – it’s not something that is a chosen course of action. Failure means “shit happens”. In space exploration (usually in either trying to get to space or return from space) shit happens – shit that you can’t foresee regardless of how many sensors you cram into something. If we were a little more hearty about the risks – and spent less money and time trying to minimize them – we’d learn a lot more about how space travel can be accomplished and, heaven forbid, we might actually make some money and jobs out there in the ‘verse.
It’s true that everything related to space exploration is expensive: The vehicles, the training for the astronauts and every single person on the ground who supports them, plus the immense piles of documentation, checklists, and checklists for the checklists…all to try to ensure that the mission is a success. I submit that we should be a bit more cavalier about space.
How many thousands of people would sign up this instant for a chance to go to space, even if the risks were greatly increased? How much money and time could we save if maybe we didn’t have system upon system checking each other? How much weight could we save on our space vehicles if we didn’t have so many redundant systems? Does this sound like the Soviet approach to space exploration? I guess it does, but along with the Soviets’ almost reckless attitude toward tossing people into orbit, we pair our western fetish for technology.
The death of a crew of astronauts is a tragic event, but so are the deaths of an equal number of passengers on a bus that plummets down a cliff in Peru. Personally, I’d rather be on the rocket when I go. It’s time that our expectations from astronauts was backed down just a little bit, from Godlike Superbeing to Lucky Person With A Pretty Cool Job. And I don’t mean to say that our current and former astronauts aren’t worthy of exaltation – quite the opposite, in fact. Take just about anybody who’s been in space and you have the best of the best of human specimens. They have it all – brains, physical stamina and dexterity, courage, etc. What I propose is that we lower the standards substantially, making space exploration much more common, and more risky.
