08. Are we at risk of death? What are the chances of dying on our space trip? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

To live is to be at risk of dying—no matter if you're flying in space or riding your bike. The key for safety is to be prepared. To reduce the chance of dying during spaceflight, it is important to be well-trained with lots of practice of skills and testing of technologies. Risk in spaceflight depends on such things as the length of the trip, the spacecraft, the mission, and the crew. For the Space Shuttle, experts disagree on the chances for dying on a typical mission. But so far we've had two disasters in more than 100 flights. That means there could be about a one in fifty chance of dying on the Space Shuttle. On a longer space trip, like a mission to Mars, the risk would be much greater since the trip is longer and Mars is much farther away. Space travel is risky business. But remember, the risk of dying on a space trip is the flip side of the chance for living. So let's be optimistic and consider the chances for a successful space mission. Based on the history of spaceflight so far, there have been far more successes than losses.

---

Answer provided by Brad McLain & Liv Arnesen

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

Buy This Book Click here