Now that NASA is planning to resume flights of the shuttle, there will be extensive news reports on the related risks. The real question, of course, is how safe is safe enough. I am not one who believes that every hint of risk must be removed from our lives before we leave home (although most accidents do happen in the home). It is hard to argue, however, that the costs of shuttle outweigh the benefits. Never has a nation given so much in return for so little.

How much more knowledge of the universe would we have gained had the dollars spent on the shuttle been spent on unmanned space exploration? NASA needs to get over it public relations gimmicks (teachers in space) and get on with some real science. Otherwise, it is just another government expenditure boondoggle.