Michael Griffin Flight Quotations

We have substantial schedule slack at this point, almost a full year. So we would have to have substantial difficulties that we do not now envision in maintaining our flight rate in order to start any consideration of contingency plans.

This is a sad day for NASA. ... But also one of renewed hope for the future of NASA's manned space flight program. The end of the Shuttle Program means that we will begin a new program that will be bigger better and more expensive than anything we have undertaken before. I'm proud of the people that have kept the shuttle going, but the Shuttle Program is done. Its time for the shuttle, like an old dog, to lie on the porch and let the younger dogs chase the rabbits.

If you spend much time on this stuff and aviation accidents, a common theme is that of not listening to the signals the hardware is sending - the test results, the flight results, the dissenting opinions of the people involved.