Our nation marked the 20th anniversary of the Challenger disaster in various ways. Seven astronauts died that day. In total NASA has lost 17 astronauts over the years. According to Wikepedia there have been 153 astronauts in the space program, so the number of lost is over 10%.
John Tierney thinks this number insufficient. He marked the 20th anniversary by writing a piece in which he faults Congress for the death rate in the Space Program. He would like it to be higher. He wants space research to be privately funded rather than government supported " because a private adventurer can take the kind of risks that Congress would never allow NASA to take."
Tierney reserves his admiration for the entrepreneurial explorer like Shackleton- this, despite the death rate in his exploratory mission to the South Pole.
It seems an odd way to honor our brave Astronauts.
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