I cant help but notice the parallels between the situation the Space Shuttle is currently in and the fate of Concorde. Both were successful and long lived . Both suffered catastrophic crashes due to debris. Both had the flaws repaired. Both went back into service. In the case of Concorde they only managed another couple of flights before it was taken out of service and sent to museums. The Shuttle seems to be heading in the same direction. And finally given their ages it is amazing that there is nothing modern to replace either of them.
BTW someone on the radio this weekend gave an amazing statistic, apparently the survival rate of shuttle astronauts is worse than World War II fighter pilots. Seems crazy but I suppose when you count the number of people who have flown in the shuttle and the number who died in accidents versus the total number of fighter pilots in World War II then it is probably a true but unfair comparison.
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