From: g_d_pusch_remove_underscores@xnet.com   
      
   zoltanccc@aol.com (Zoltan Szakaly) writes:   
      
   > The shuttle is an excellent and reliable system. Two failures of about   
   > 100 flights is pretty good reliability.   
      
   Would you tolerate a car or a computer system that failed catastrophically   
   and killed you after an average of 100 trips or 100 reboots ???   
      
   > There are two problems with the shuttle.   
   >   
   > 1. The lack of plan B in case of failure. During launch there should   
   > be an apollo style LET system to remove the cabin from the fireball.   
   > During reentry there should be ejection seats as a safety backup.   
   > These are not hard to implement.   
      
   ...However, the additional mass will cut into your payload, and the   
   additional expense will cut into your budget. You pays your money,   
   and you takes your engineering trade-offs.   
      
   BTW, when was the last time you saw either an ejection system   
   or an escape capsule on _any_ type of cargo aircraft ???   
      
      
   -- Gordon D. Pusch   
      
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