# What's Harder Than Rocket Science? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969 "2007-03-29T13:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/21 "2007-03-29T16:55:50Z")
Rocket Surgery? ---
**Author:** ![melangell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@melangell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melangell)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/22 "2007-03-29T16:58:04Z")
Personally, I have found these things to be the hardest: 1. Figuring out what you really want to do with your life. 2. Interpersonal relationships -sometimes I think it would be easier to navigate a mine field than figuring out if someone actually wants honesty, or how much honesty, when they ask for your advice, etc. 3. Potty-training ferrets. Training ferrets, period. They are stubborn. 4. Interpreting Lacan and Derrida. If I stretch my mind far enough, I can glance their meanings at the periphery of my understanding. 5. Managing money and balancing your monetary priorities with your SO’s. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/23 "2007-03-29T16:59:36Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] Understanding women. [/QUOTE] I was going to respond with something else, but then I read this. You got me. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/24 "2007-03-29T17:05:53Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] During the original program it was estimated that a “clean” ORION type rocket using high efficiency boosted fission bomblets launching from a solid pad would produce less radioactive fallout than a coal-fired energy generating plant; it wasn’t an insignificant hazard (roughly equivilent to a single multi-megaton range nuclear weapon) but not the kind of world-ending threat some fear, either. There’s probably less hazard from the products of this than from groundwater contamination using toxic, caustic chemical fuels previously used in commerical rockets. (However, the manufacture and processing of nuclear material produces its own toxic, caustic, and radioactive wastes.) [/QUOTE] Actually, I’ve little problem with a single use of nuclear pulse propulsion, for the reasons you’ve stated. What my real problem is that I doubt that in the event that the political and social capital is spent to get the public to accept nuclear pulse propulsion there’s going to be little reason on the part of some people to keep from using it as a _routine_ launch process. The fallout from a single multi-megaton range nuclear weapon isn’t really something I worry about. (Especially post-Chernobyl) I do prefer that such things be kept, as often as possible, to a series of one. And let me throw out this sea-anchor, too - what I would oppose for the purposes of launch propulsion from Earth is very different from what I’d oppose for the purposes of interplanetary propulsion. (I’ll admit I like the idea of the [nuclear salt rocket](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_salt-water_rocket).) ---
**Author:** ![Julia\_Leapyear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Julia\_Leapyear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julia_Leapyear)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/25 "2007-03-29T17:22:29Z")
[QUOTE=Hogwash] Rocket Surgery? [/QUOTE] That’s IT! I’m absolutely going to use this one. Most of the other posts can’t really be summed up in an expression. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/26 "2007-03-29T17:40:26Z")
Accurate 10-day weather forecasts ---
**Author:** ![dmatsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@dmatsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmatsch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/27 "2007-03-29T17:58:45Z")
[QUOTE=Julia\_Leapyear] "…I now have a friend who _is_ a rocket scientist… [/QUOTE] I also have a friend who’s a rocket scientist over at Kennedy. He’s got a T-shirt that says, “As a matter of fact, I _am_ a rocket scientist!” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/28 "2007-03-29T18:58:29Z")
Different strokes for different folks. I knew a woman that effortlessly put herself through 8 years of med school but left her DVD player unused for three months until her dad hooked it up for her. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/29 "2007-03-30T00:25:48Z")
[QUOTE=Julia\_Leapyear] That’s IT! I’m absolutely going to use this one. Most of the other posts can’t really be summed up in an expression. [/QUOTE] I think Brain Science gives Rocket Surgery a run for its money. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/30 "2007-03-30T01:00:46Z")
I always thought that the point of the sayings wasn’t just that the disciplines were hard, it’s that they were finicking and if you made a mistake there would be catastrophic, uncorrectable consequences. So saying something isn’t rocket science or brain surgery means that you don’t have to bother working at it until it’s perfect, you can stop when it’s good enough. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/31 "2007-03-30T01:03:47Z")
Understanding the United States Income Tax rules and regs. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/32 "2007-03-30T02:03:12Z")
[QUOTE=Waverly] And that is the point. Launch success is astonishingly low, redundant quality _control_ is a necessity, and production is slow and tedious because no time or money has been invested in more elegant solutions. It is a more conservative discipline than banking. Rocket science embraces the status quo whereas most other sciences keep questioning and pushing the envelope. That is why I don’t think rocket science is the gold standard for excellence in science and engineering. [/QUOTE] When the status quo gives you a better than 90% chance of success, and being a pioneer is a synonym for mission failure, people will be conservative. When you spend hundreds of millions of dollars for a launcher and its payload, you try to minimize risk. Very few organizations have the funding needed to do a new design from scratch and watch launch after launch end in failure while the bugs are worked out. The physics of the problem dictate safety margins that would horrify most engineers. There is no easy road to the stars. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/33 "2007-03-30T02:04:57Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] The MOHS scale of hardness 1. Falling Off a Log 2. Pie 3. Sunday Morning 4. Quartz 5. Selling Ice to Eskimos 6. Chinese Algebra 7. Rocket Science 8. Brain Surgery 9. Dying 10. Comedy [/QUOTE] 11. Herding cats ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/34 "2007-03-30T03:54:56Z")
Peace in the Middle East. String theory; at least they can _test_ rockets. Curing cancer. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/35 "2007-03-30T04:10:02Z")
Land war in Asia. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/36 "2007-03-30T04:20:02Z")
Finding a good man. Makes Rocket Science look like playing hopscotch! ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/37 "2007-03-30T04:22:13Z")
Being in a relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/38 "2007-03-30T10:42:17Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] being a pioneer is a synonym for mission failure [/QUOTE] Really? Tell that to [Burt Rutan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne). Among other things, getting people off the path of least resistance is harder than rocket science. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/39 "2007-03-30T11:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=Waverly] Really? Tell that to [Burt Rutan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne). Among other things, getting people off the path of least resistance is harder than rocket science. [/QUOTE] How much hardware has he put into orbit? Rutan is a genius, but there is a huge difference between doing suborbital test flights and putting stuff in orbit. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969/40 "2007-03-30T12:00:40Z")
How 'bout this one … my husband’s cousin used to work at NASA, but because her project kept getting delayed, she got bored and quit. So she went to medical school to become a neurologist. The jokes just write themselves! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-harder-than-rocket-science/397969.md?page=3)