I'm getting the sense that every Shuttle flight is truly "a wing and a prayer". It seems there are threats to the safety of the Shuttle and crew are laying in the weeds, unseen and unknown, waiting to bite 'em in the ankle if they stray too near.

It also seems as if NASA has done the best humanly possible with the known threats. My suspicion is not that they are failing their mission but that the Shuttle is so complex and on a mission with widely varying and extreme conditions.

I'm thinking the interplay of complexity and extremes is beyond anyone to control without accepting a serious loss factor.

Neither am I advocating they stop. Just saying there will be more problems.

Arf