Wayne Hale on the Age-Old Question

Wayne Hale with some wonderfully-thoughtful prose (as always) on the question: “If you were NASA Administrator, what would you have the agency do?”

In this business, nothing is ever perfect. Space flight involves risk, it can never be completely eliminated. But real space flight is actual flight, not studies and ground tests. It is difficult to find the balance of having done enough to be reasonably sure of success and safety and to get on with a project and actually fly. I hate the term ‘risk averse,’ but as much as it makes my teeth grate, the effect of wanting to make every detail perfect has the same outcome as cowardice: never flying.

Absolutely fantastic read. Take a few minutes to read the whole thing. You owe it to yourself.