Space Industry Accident

There are a number of news areas I follow regularly but don’t comment on, and space flight is one of them. Nonetheless as both a science fiction fan, and an advocate of sound science, I have been very excited to see the development of the private space industry.

Today, in catching up on news reading, I encountered the reports and some discussion of the tragic accident at a Scaled Composites (note that I couldn’t access this site, presumably because of high traffic volume test site. Three men died. I didn’t knew these men, and I didn’t know of them. But in every pioneer effort, there will be accidents, and there will be those who pay with their lives. They weren’t doing some massively heroic thing; they were just doing their jobs. But that’s how most of those who pay do so. It’s not in going out of one’s way and doing some extraordinary thing, but rather in getting caught doing everyday, routine things.

There’s a good deal of speculation as well as to how this will impact the new revolution in private space flight. I hope it will not have a chilling effect. It shouldn’t. As tragic as such accidents are, they are going to be part of any pioneering effort. I’m certain the folks involved will investigate, find the causes, make necessary corrections and go forward. That’s how it should be.

The best way to honor pioneers is to keep right on pioneering, and I’m thankful to those who work to pave the way.