I think NASA is still haunted by Christa McAuliffe's ghost. Before the Challenger explosion, NASA was putting Senators, Congressmen, princes, and other non-astronauts on shuttle flights. McAuliffe was the first non-political person to fly... the whole world was watching... and some idiot manager snaps, "My God, Thiokol! When do you want to launch? Next April?" and the SRBs leak gas and blow up the teacher in front of her class.
Then again, the U.S. Navy, in an analagous situation, managed to sink a Japanese fishing boat, kill nine men, AND destroy several promising naval careers by having 16 DVs (Distinguised Visitors) on a sub. Perhaps Mr. Tito should make out a check to the Republican National Committee.
Did NASA scream when they started adding Mission Specialists to the flight crew because they weren't all pilots?
You can't lie to an airplane or to the sea. They'll kill you. But airplanes and ships carry passengers.
As long as Mr. Tito doesn't sit on his ass and demand personal service from the crew of the ISS, and maybe does a few of the simpler tasks, it's okay to have him aboard.
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Of course, if you have a traitor in the U.S. military like John Walker, you can get the keys.
"Actually scores are going up nowadays. Our kids are smarter than we are."
Or are they dumbing down the IQ tests?
I think NASA is still haunted by Christa McAuliffe's ghost. Before the Challenger explosion, NASA was putting Senators, Congressmen, princes, and other non-astronauts on shuttle flights. McAuliffe was the first non-political person to fly... the whole world was watching... and some idiot manager snaps, "My God, Thiokol! When do you want to launch? Next April?" and the SRBs leak gas and blow up the teacher in front of her class. Then again, the U.S. Navy, in an analagous situation, managed to sink a Japanese fishing boat, kill nine men, AND destroy several promising naval careers by having 16 DVs (Distinguised Visitors) on a sub. Perhaps Mr. Tito should make out a check to the Republican National Committee. Did NASA scream when they started adding Mission Specialists to the flight crew because they weren't all pilots? You can't lie to an airplane or to the sea. They'll kill you. But airplanes and ships carry passengers. As long as Mr. Tito doesn't sit on his ass and demand personal service from the crew of the ISS, and maybe does a few of the simpler tasks, it's okay to have him aboard.