Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to re: Ariane 5 - Nothing Special

But!
Jacob — (archived)

The Space Shuttle is an engineering marvel,
but it is also inherently a human peril...Launch and reentry
can best be described as both inherent and statistical near-death experiences for its occupants...and 14 of them fell victim to
its perils.
It's lethal nature makes commercial/military options politically
unpalatable.

The Ariane V has the advantage of a wide degree of flexibility.

(1) It can be upgraded to park 50 metric tons in LEO.
[When was the last time a rocket was capable of this?]

(2) It can be manrated or remain unmanned.

(3) It can serve science, the military, or commerce.

Yes! It's not as 'sophisticated' or as complex as the Shuttle;
but who cares?
It's more complex than the Proton, or Long March, but that doesn't offer advantages one way or another.
More often uber-complexity ADDS UNNECESSARY COST.

Your pride in the Shuttle's complexity and sophistication
is meaningless unless it translates into a comfortable margin
of safety [1 failure per 1000 launches would have been 'statistically' acceptable].

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