spaceiscool said:"they needed to killed the shuttle when it murderd seven people in 1986, instead they allowed the same incompetent fools to keep going to kill another seven."<br /><br />If we were to kill every space vehicle that had an accident, then there would not have been a continuation of Gemini after Gemini 8, or an Apollo after Apollo 1 oir Apollo 13, or a Soyuz after Soyuz 1. They all have had accidents, and with the exception of Gemini, accidents with fatalities.<br /><br />The Space Shuttle is a vehicle, which unfortunately, has had two accidents resulting in the loss of the lives of 14 astronauts. To say that the vehicle murdered the crews: that is just not the case. the word "murder" implies intent to kill. A vehicle can not "murder", and the NASA managment did not have intent to kill either. No one wanted these crews to die in these accidents. In spaceflight, there is an inherent risk that every astronaut knows about and accepts as a part of flying on the shuttle, or any other space vehicle. That risk will always be there to a greater or lesser degree. There is risk in everything that we do, driving, living in tornado alley, or in a hurricane zone, flying on airliners, flying in general aviation, or riding on trains to name a few. Living involves risk, and to avoid all risk, or not accept it, is to "not live" IMO. As for me personally, even knowing about the accidents with Challenger and Columbia, and the continuing problems that the Space Shuttle has, I would still fly onboard in a heartbeat if given the opportunity, despite the risk. I would be willing to accept it. I beleive that the astronaut corps is willing to accept it as well. The CEV will also have flight risks associated with it once it is ready to fly. Hopefully the risks will be lesser than STS, but there will be risks. If our society and civilization wants to "truly live" then some degree of risk must necessarily be accepted.