[AdA$tra]

Understanding failure mechanisms in a complex system is crucial to reducing risks, even more so when lives are at stake.

There was a horrible car wreck that I saw on the way home from church today. Do you suppose we should ground all of our automobiles until we have fully investigated all of the possible causes. Thank God Orville Wright, Chuck Yeager and all those brave explorers and pioneers in aviation didn’t have your approach to space exploration and discovery. There have only been two fatal mishaps involving the shuttle in 107 tries. I am sure the B-17 crews over Europe in WWII would take those odds any day.

[Magnum44]

I think most of the failure mechanisms in a car are understood. Its not even a close analogy.

There are protocols in this business that are followed, whether it is to reduce risk of loss of life, or the risk of loss to investors. You don't ask companies, or taxpayers to spend hundreds of millions of dollars (or lives) without trying to fully understand the risks they are taking.