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Was it ever? I think millions of dollars doesn't fit "let's cross our fingers". The Space Shuttle had 1 complete backup system and if that one failed another o
by pasta 10y ago
Was it ever? I think millions of dollars doesn't fit "let's cross our fingers".
The Space Shuttle had 1 complete backup system and if that one failed another one to land safely.
- eddieroger 10y agoMillions of dollars and human lives. I think things like the fact that Nixon had an Apollo failure speech ready is the exact opposite of "cross your fingers" and more proof that they tried to think through everything they could, including unpredictable failure.
- gozur88 10y agoI agree. Eisenhower had a similar speech ready had the D-Day invasion failed. It's just part of leading any large project that could fail spectacularly.
- throwanem 10y agoThe avionics were multiply redundant, yes. But the Shuttle landed as an unpowered glider. If the first landing approach failed, there was no possibility of another.
- BugsJustFindMe 10y agoTens of millions, hundreds of millions, or billions of dollars, maybe, but I can tell you from experience that single digit millions of dollars runs with "fingers crossed" all the time in underwater robotics. Either your threshold for human indiscretion is just set in the wrong place or there's something else going on.