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Originally posted by Kaltia:
Alright, so maybe it wasn't like they had a lot of choice. But considering they were sending people up into space, not say a mechanical buggy, couldnt they have delayed the trip until they had more sophisticated space faring-equipment?
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The Shuttle is an incredible piece on engineering still, and replacing it is expensive. At the moment, there is no more sophisticated equipment to be had. There were new spacecraft in development, one to replace the shuttle and the X-0-whatever that was to be the ISS escape vehicle. To my knowledge, both projects are currently on indeterminate hold due to lack of funds.
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And what's up with the lack of communication? Wouldn't it make more sense to improve that straight away? As my dad, who is an engineer, says, "An engineer is only as good as his bosses allow him to be."
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Things have improved since Challenger, but bosses will always have to juggle budgets and schedules, and the engineers will never be listened to as much as they should be.