[cynicom]

A few hundred years ago, when daring sailors were given sailing ships and stores, to sail off and never to be seen again, there was loss of life and of treasure. The author, if living in those days would have had great concern, wringing his hands and whining about the losses.

The author has learned little from history and surely never takes time to let his mind wander into the future. The man is to damned busy wringing his hands and whining.

[Jim Noble]

We can do much better, and if you were a dreamer of high flight when you were a kid and are over 40 you damned well know it.

Letting your mind wander into the future is not a defense of cowardly politicians and PR bullshit artists being allowed to cripple a technical and engineering program so we lose wonderful heroes like this crew.

[RKV]

I like your analogy. I think it fits well. The ship owners, investors, officers and crew all knew that there were risk and rewards. The risks were isolated, not shared by the country at large (via government). That profit (and in some cases quite handsome profits) went with the assumption of risk was assumed. I wish more people today got the risk/reward association. I think we have reached the point where private ventures ought to take over from state sponsored enterprises. This was the historical pattern as well, if I read it correctly.

[Man of the Right]

Supporters of the Shuttle are the folks who learn nothing from experience.