Take Safe Is Not An Option Conceived By Rand Simberg Released As Hardcover
thoughtful and very important discussion of the issues constraining the way human Spaceflight is conducted, Though written in/, its points are valid and in many cases prescient, Definitely worth the read. Helpful, short, and convincing discussion of a counterintuitive notion that putting safety above all else actually makes space flight less safe, This book is subtitled: Overcoming the futile obsession with getting everyone back alive that is killing our expansion into space, It is a review into and commentary on the current risk averse nature of the US civilian space program, As the early space shots demonstrated, it is almost impossible to recognise all of the hazards that are likely to be faced so it is only with actual experience that we learn them.
Despite common belief and the cost, the Space Shuttle was not safe and was doomed because it was not reliable, And similar errors appear to have been made in the Constellation program in the mistaken belief that Shuttle derived hardware was safe, The author argues that NASA is constrained by the insistence of politicians that space flight be "safe" without ever defining what that means, Eventually the author advocates that NASA should get out of human space activities and leave that to commercial operators if the US is ever to realise the dream of settling space.
I would recommend this book to space advocates, especially those frustrated with the current state of NASAs developments,
As a longtime NASA geek I appreciate Simberg's excellent job of outlining the troubles with American space exploration and his cautious optimism regarding private/commercial efforts.
My big takeaway is: Do we continue the 'pork over progress' model that strangles settlement and development or do we embrace the explorer's mentality that created modern maritime and aviation technology Would you support spending a million dollars to save the life of an astronaut, or to improve their chance of survival in an emergency Sure, you would.
Ten million dollars Well, yeah, probably,
One hundred million dollars Um, That's a lot of money,
A billion dollars Sorry, . . you knew the job was dangerous when you took it,
Ten billion dollars Go home, Congress, You're drunk.
How about an infinite number of dollars That's essentially the position that NASA as micromanaged by Congress is in today, If "safety of astronauts is our number one priority," then astronauts should just stay home, Preferably wrapped in cotton wool,
That's the starting point of Rand Simberg's book, He digs into history, showing how every form of transportation has killed both passengers and crew, starting with "wooden ships and iron men, " He then goes through a good review of America's history of space exploration, then an analysis of NASA's safety culture for Constellation, ISS, and the Hubble repair mission.
He finishes with a set of recommendations that should be the starting point for any safety discussion with NASA, Congress, or the FAA's Office of Commercial Transportation.
Highly recommended. Buy copies for your friends, And your Congressmen. Even if you read RISKS, even if you're wellinformed, there is plenty of new information here worth reading, Simberg has a good understanding of our depressingly riskaverse and illinformed culture of spaceflight engineering and, most importantly, the human projectmanagement pitfalls that have led to the death of American manned spaceflight.
He presents solid analyses of why current policies are misguided and how to go about fixing them, And he writes engagingly, with wellorganized material, Highly insightful look into whats hampering our exploration of space, This book is a winning combination of being both important and easy to read, It's important because it raises issues that lawmakers, policy makers, industry and prospective customers must all address, namely, what is our appetite for risk in space travel The book starts with inspiring stories, many of which we are already familiar with, but when Simberg offers them as contrast to society's aversion to risk, it shows starkly how much we've changed since setting sail in wooden boats and facing a hostile continent.
After showing the pitfalls of demanding perfect safety which would mean we shouldn't get out of bed in the morning, much less launch rockets, Simberg raises an important issue that needs to be part of the public discussion.
When the nation thought space was important, we were willing to take risks, All modes of transport carry risks, but we accept those risks because we need to get places,
So, he asks, why do we need to go to space He argues that the settlement of space is reason enough, The Commercial Space Launch Act would appear to support his thesis, There, Congress said "the goal of safely opening space to the American people and their private commercial, scientific, and cultural enterprises should guide Federal space investments, policies, and regulations.
"
Finally, the writing is smooth, the explanations clear, and the arguments cogent, It's a quick read, and I highly recommend it, The history of exploration and establishment of new lands, science and technologies has always entailed risk to the health and lives of the explorers.
Yet, when it comes to exploring and developing the high frontier of space, the harshest frontier ever, the highest value is apparently not the accomplishment of those goals, but of minimizing, if not eliminating, the possibility of injury or death of the humans carrying them out.
For decades since the end of Apollo, human spaceflight has been very expensive and relatively rare aboutpeople total, with a death rate of about, largely because of this risk aversion on the part of the federal government and culture.
From the Space Shuttle, to the International Space Station, the new commercial crew program to deliver astronauts to it, and the regulatory approach for commercial spaceflight providers, our attitude toward safety has been fundamentally irrational, expensive and even dangerous, while generating minimal accomplishment for maximal cost.
This book entertainingly explains why this means that we must regulate passenger safety in the new commercial spaceflight industry with a lighter hand than many might instinctively prefer, that NASA must more carefully evaluate rewards from a planned mission to rationally determine how much should be spent to avoid the loss of participants, and that Congress must stop insisting that safety is the highest priority, for such insistence is an eloquent testament to how unimportant they and the nation consider the opening of this new frontier.
About the Author Rand Simberg is a recovering aerospace engineer with over a third of a century of experience in the space industry, Early in his career, he accumulated over a decade of experience in engineering and management at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California and Rockwell International in Downey, California.
Since leaving Rockwell in, he has been a consultant in space technology and business development as well as a technology entrepreneur, He also advises on regulatory and market issues pertaining to commercial and personal spaceflight, Mr. Simberg holds multiple engineering degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a Masters degree in Technical Management from West Coast University in Los Angeles.
He is an adjunct scholar with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and has written many pieces for Popular Mechanics, Fox News, America Online, PJMedia, National , Reason magazine, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Times, and TCSDaily, among others.
He has also written extensive essays on space policy and technology for the quarterly journal, The New Atlantis, .