# Who's nervous about Wednesday's shuttle launch? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 13, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-nervous-about-wednesdays-shuttle-launch/312291 "2005-07-13T03:20:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-nervous-about-wednesdays-shuttle-launch/312291/21 "2005-07-13T17:15:00Z")
I’m not nervous, at least, no more than any other shuttle flight. If anything, this flight will be safer than most of the others because of all the extra preparation they’ve done for this mission. They’ve had the last two and a half years to analyze every detail of shuttle operation to see if they can do it better. As with the aftermath of most disasters, they’ll be more aware than usual of anything that could possibly go wrong and thinking about how they can avoid it. > [@This Year's Model](#): > > The Russians had someone die in space, though they’ve never admitted it. The Russians have lost cosmonauts on two missions, Soyuz 1 in 1967 and Soyuz 11 in 1971. They didn’t hide either incident, although they didn’t always go into tons of info on what caused the spacecraft failure. For Soyuz 11 especially, they would have had a hard time hiding the loss. The cosmonauts were coming back from spending three weeks on board the worlds first space station, Salyut 1. Russian television ran broadcasts of them showing off in zero gravity. All of Russia was well aware they were up there and would certainly notice if after the flight the cosmonauts were never spoken of. The three were given a large state funeral. US astronaut Tom Stafford was even one of the pallbearers. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-nervous-about-wednesdays-shuttle-launch/312291/22 "2005-07-13T17:28:49Z")
> [@Can Handle the Truth](#): > > Agreed. As a former mechanical engineer, I’ve seen enough idiotic NASA “engineering” to wonder who the hell they have working there. How about some examples? > [@](#): > > My dad felt the same way. After the _Challenger_ disaster he walked around for days shaking his head and muttering, “I can’t believe they used a rubber O-ring as a seal for burning gasses…” Why is this a poor choice, and what would he (or you) have used instead? ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-nervous-about-wednesdays-shuttle-launch/312291/23 "2005-07-13T17:34:35Z")
The launch has been scrapped for today, they’re not sure when they’re going to schedule the re-launch. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-nervous-about-wednesdays-shuttle-launch/312291/24 "2005-07-13T18:05:29Z")
Well, at least they don’t have [“Go Fever”](http://andrewolmsted.com/archives/000002.html) this time. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-nervous-about-wednesdays-shuttle-launch/312291/25 "2005-07-13T18:13:24Z")
> [@Santos L Halper](#): > > The Russians have lost cosmonauts on two missions, Soyuz 1 in 1967 and Soyuz 11 in 1971. They didn’t hide either incident, although they didn’t always go into tons of info on what caused the spacecraft failure. I’ve obviously absorbed some misinformation somewhere along the way. Thanks for the knowledge! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-nervous-about-wednesdays-shuttle-launch/312291/26 "2005-07-13T18:51:37Z")
Two and half years ago I went on a cruise that started and ended at Port Canaveral, and on the last day my friend and I toured Kennedy Space Center. I got two souvenirs: a t-shirt that says “Let’s Do Launch” on the back, and a crystal space shuttle (I collect crystal). One week later, the _Columbia_ exploded. I put the “Let’s Do Launch” shirt in the back of my closet, and I was so excited this morning to finally be able to wear it (I’m wearing it as I type this)! Oh well . . . I’ll break it out again when the launch is rescheduled. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-nervous-about-wednesdays-shuttle-launch/312291.md?page=1)