That -- or words to that effect -- was what the MSNBC presenter asked retired astronaut Mae C. Jemison.
I don't think Dr. Jemison could help it. She very briefly had one of those facial expressions ("you really are that ignorant, aren't you?"), quickly reined it in and replied with barely a sigh, "Commercial companies have built all our spacecraft." She added that the regulatory oversight was essentially the same in either case.
Lamestream media -- even lefty MSNBC -- has given SpaceX some positive publicity after yesterday's successful launch but they beat the drum a lot louder when the first attempt was scrubbed right before launch. Space.com has a page dedicated to commercial spaceflight with full coverage; the Dragon capsule still has to dock with ISS, after doing a remarkably complex series of maneuvers to check the position and control systems.
.gov is s security blanket to so many.
ReplyDeleteThey're just afraid someone might eventually be able to get away.
ReplyDeleteSafer than I do standing still right here on the ground in a country that has Obama running things.
ReplyDeleteMike James
As long as I could wear a parachute and sat next to the escape hatch I woulnt be skeered. I might even carry a gasy mask.
ReplyDeleteIs not safe, is ракета.
ReplyDeletespasebo gosbodin
ReplyDeleteTo people like that MSNBC person, government always does it better than private industry, even when proven otherwise.
ReplyDeleteBTW--not to be a grammar policeman, but monarchs reign over countries, riders rein in their horses.
I feex!
ReplyDeleteWould you feel safe on a rocket procured, administered, and launched by .gov functionaries? Tell you what, in either case, lets have the launch director pursue his or her duties from the acceleration couch right next to mine. More broadly, would you feel safe on a rocket?
ReplyDeleteFeeeeelings!