FROM THE PAUL GILSTER BOOK I MENTIONED YESTERDAY, a disturbing passage:

“If a test pilot crashes at Edwards Air Force Base,” muses Landis, “they name a street after him, and the next day someone else flies another mission to see what went wrong. With space, things are different. Every mission has to be a success; we can tolerate no casualties. It may be a cultural thing. Maybe we’ve grown too afraid of risks.”

Yes, I think that they’re more cautious even at Edwards these days. But the point holds.