"Henry Spencer" <henry@spsystems.net> wrote in message
news:Ho5EIG.Awt@spsystems.net...
|
| Beyond that, the astronauts just took their chances.

Just saying this is considered fodder for conspiracy theories.  If we point
out the statistical basis for managing the radiation exposure, we're accused
with having "gambled with the astronauts' lives."

Well, yes we were.  Just like you gamble with your life every time you get
in your car to drive to work.  The difference is solely in the magnitude of
the gamble.  The astronauts agreed to risk their lives to greatly expand our
knowledge of the solar system.  You have to remember that before this, they
were test pilots agreeing to risk their lives for the comparatively mundane
task of testing aircraft designs.

Compared with all of the things that *could* have gone fatally wrong in an
Apollo mission, death by solar flare was awfully remote.

-- 
                                          |
The universe is not required to conform   |  Jay Windley
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