[2111USMC]

"For those older than me...how in the HELL do you sit still through a shuttle launch and landing?"

Conditioning. Back in '67 we watched 'em burn up on the launch pad. (Apollo 1)

There are always going to be risks when you try to propel human bodies up into space at a gazillion miles per hour.

[ReignOfError]

There are always going to be risks when you try to propel human bodies up into space at a gazillion miles per hour.

As other folks mentioned in the launch thread, I still get white knuckles when I hear "Roger, go with throttle up" 70-some seconds after launch. Those were Challenger commander Frank Scobee's last (reported) words.