As I recall, the Orbiter has flown some 113 times with two (that's 2) fatal mishaps. In the entire history of the US space program, we have had three fatal disasters, resulting in the deaths of 17 personnel. By contrast, how many missions have demonstrated the POSSIBILITY of space flight? How many have SUCCESSFULLY returned to Earth and been reused?
As usual, succeed and no one knows your name. Only failure is written large to some people.
With all of the shuttle bashing taking place, your is a refreshing post. Even though I have been contradicted many times, I still insist that the shuttle is an engineering marvel. It is expensive, dangerous, and unwieldy in some respects but a marvel nonetheless. Having said that, the future does not reside in the shuttle. I hope this tragedy serves as a catalyst to move us on to the next generation of vehicles.
113 times with two mishaps, producing 14 fatalities. That works out to one fatality for every 8 trips.
That said, the early voyages of exploration and early American colonization also had a high fatality rate. The final reward, though, was high, and now transatlantic travel is very safe. I do think, though, that the days of sending up schoolteachers, etc as publicity stunts are over. The space program will be (more accurately) looked at as a game for risk-accepting test-pilot types.
It's also well past time to retire the Shuttle and develop something better, using the lessons learned, and not repeating the mistakes made, in the shuttle program