But IMO I think eventually an LOM, if not LOC will occur in a robust commercial sector style program, be it a crewed mission or non crewed. Accidents happen.
Untrue. If offered the choice between falling just short of LEO and being blown to pieces the multibillion dollar one of a kind robotic payload doesn't care. Humans very much prefer not being blown to pieces.The fault handling is going to be substantially different.
THERE WILL BE.Passengers on Dragon are civilian transport, SpaceX unlike NASA does not have crown immunity.
Though in some instances I wonder if it would be safer to just kill the thrust and let it hit the ground in one piece vs shower a wide area in flaming debris.
I think the shuttle's is fully manually operated as seen on Challenger.
"Are man-rating standards counterproductive ?"To get the best insight into the problem (IMO) it is recommended to listen to what Dr. Andrew J. Aldrin, ULA Business Development Director, had to say March 30, 2010 at the George C. Marshall Institute workshop.Video at http://www.cspan.org/Watch/Media/2010/03/30/HP/A/31311/George+C+Marshall+Institute+Discussion+on+Space+Exploration+Policy+and+Programs.aspx- skip to 40' .