The problem isn't the vehicle, it is the culture. It's incredibly risk averse.

I agree that their culture is a big problem, and that they are now very risk averse. But the shuttle is less safe than other manned space vehicles because A) it has solid rocket motors which cannot be shut down in case of an emergency, and B) it rides next to the external fuel tank (not on top of everything) leaving it vulnurable to damage from debris falling from the tank.

Both of those problems can be mostly overcome by carefull engineering, so it's not all bad... but it just needs a lot of attention paid to these vulnurabilities.

I was tryingto be a little bit rational, but clearly I'm gonna have to fall back on Jessica's

...moon! Base! Base on moon! Want!

That's what any argument of mine is really gonna boil down to.

pitstop of errands on way to food.

A THANK YOU to JZ and David. I now have a snazzy tiara of my own with extra especial pink crystals. THANK YOU!

off to get BK for lunch!

...moon! Base! Base on moon! Want!

To bring the movies discussion into it:

We love the moon!
and Zeppelins!

...moon! Base! Base on moon! Want!

Good lord, you're all channeling Clovis.

Clovis wants a base on the moon?

Clovis wants a base on the moon?

The better to control his sugary minions with.

I think it's a safe bet that Clovis wants bases everywhere.

Clovis wants a base on the moon?

Of course he does. He also wants orbital mind controll satellites, a zombie army, and more minions. He is an evil overlord in-training, after all.

Clovis wants a base on the moon?

Marshmallow minions would be even fluffier under .25 G's (or whatever teh gravity on the moon is.)