I am not going to pretend that flying a spaceship will be as safe as getting in a 747 with four engines for a flight across the Atlantic.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.
After the loss of Columbia a couple of years ago, I think we were reminded of the risk. All of us, though, have always known that the Space Shuttle is a very risky vehicle, much more risky than even flying airplanes in combat.
Flying in space is risky. It will never be safe, and the best thing we can do is manage those risks. It's important for people, for human beings, to be in space because they're adaptable and because they're not pre-programmed software that can go off and do tasks that are appropriate for machines.
By 1931, after a few years' experience of flying scheduled airlines, those planes were operating at roughly 600 times the safety of the space shuttle. I look at safety not in terms of fatalities per passenger-mile, but when you get in and close the door, what is the risk of dying on this flight?
When you're asked to fly a 747 you better at least be able to fly a Piper cub.
The men and women who make up a plane's crew put their lives in jeopardy each time they fly. It's our job as much as anyone's to make sure we make it as safe as possible up there for them.
Spaceflight, especially in the Mercury spacecraft, clearly wasn't going to be much like flying an airplane.
I've had a chance to fly a lot of different airplanes, but it was nothing like the shuttle ride.
There is no way I would ask others to go on a Virgin Galactic flight if I didn't feel it was safe enough for myself.
You don't think about the danger. The spaceship becomes your home.