17 Burt Rutan Quotes for You to Enjoy

Burt Rutan

American Scientist

Born: Jun 17, 1943

Dangerous People Space Time Will You

Related authors: Ben Carson Carl Sagan E. O. Wilson George Washington Carver Isaac Asimov Margaret Mead Neil deGrasse Tyson W. Edwards Deming

Testing leads to failure, and failure leads to understanding. Burt Rutan

Failure Understanding Leads Testing

Usually the wacky people have the breakthroughs. The 'smart' people don't. Burt Rutan

People Smart Smart People Wacky Breakthroughs

At various times over 20 years, I did preliminary designs for aircraft like the Stratolaunch. For that whole time I was encouraging us to do something that almost everyone else felt you could not do. Burt Rutan

There was a wonderful little short four-year time period when marvelous things happened. It started in 1908, when the Wright brothers flew in Paris, and everybody said, 'Ooh, hey, I can do that.' There's only a few people that have flown in early 1908. In four years, 39 countries had hundreds of airplanes, thousands of pilots. Burt Rutan

Time People Wonderful Few Everybody Hundreds Hey Airplane Thousands Brothers Only Paris Wright Wright Brothers Marvelous Had Countries Period Said Pilots Years Time Period Few People Short Happened The Wright Brothers Little Flew Things Four Four-Year Early Started Flown

We'll go back to the moon by not learning anything new. Burt Rutan

Learning Moon Back New Go Anything To The Moon

For the industry we're starting now, for suborbital flight, there is no destination, so the spacecraft you go up in has to be large and spacious. That's why SpaceShipTwo is much bigger than SpaceShipOne: It needs to be because you want those six people to be floating around and enjoying themselves. Burt Rutan

Needs You Destination People Those Industry Because Around Go Up Than Six Want Bigger Spacecraft Themselves Much Flight Large Floating Now Why Enjoying Starting

It's not good enough for us to have generations of kids that... look forward to a better version of a cell phone with a video in it. They need to look forward to exploration. Burt Rutan

Good Cell Phone Phone Better Not Good Enough Enough Kids Generations Look Version Cell Video Us Exploration Forward Need

There is a rampant tendency in any industry where someone is trying to sell something with a bunch of data, where they cherry pick a little bit... bias a little bit. This becomes quite easy when there is an enormous amount of data to cherry pick from. Burt Rutan

I was shocked to find that there were actually climate scientists who wouldn't share the raw data, but would only share their conclusions in summary graphs that were used to prove their various theories about planet warming. In fact I began to smell something really bad, and the worse that smell got, the deeper I looked. Burt Rutan

Smell Summary Worse Bad Would Find About Something Data Only Various Fact Share Raw Looked Got Conclusions Climate Prove Scientists Were Began Shocked In Fact Warming Planet Really Used Theories Who Deeper Actually

Space travel is the only technology that is more dangerous and more expensive now than it was in its first year. Fifty years after Yuri Gagarin, the space shuttle ended up being more dangerous and more expensive to fly than those first throwaway rockets, even though large portions of it were reusable. It's absurd. Burt Rutan

Travel Technology Dangerous Space Fly First Year Those Though More Only Absurd Were Years Rockets Up Than Ended Expensive Being Space Shuttle After Space Travel Fifty Large Even Now Portions Shuttle

I drove an electric car for seven years because of its advanced technology, not because I have any concerns about energy resources. I have none at all. And when environmentalists say that global warming is dangerous, unprecedented and that we'll have a tipping point for atmospheric carbon dioxide, it's just nonsense. Burt Rutan

Technology Dangerous Car Energy Resources Seven Say Unprecedented Atmospheric About Point Advanced Advanced Technology Drove Environmentalists Global Global Warming Concerns Because None Nonsense Years Any Just Tipping Warming Electric Carbon Carbon Dioxide

To allow public access to orbit, we would need breakthroughs that would lower the cost by a lot more than an order of magnitude and increase safety by a factor of 100 as compared to every launch system used since the first manned space flight. I think airborne launch will be a significant part of the safety solution. Burt Rutan

Safety Space Will First Every Think Increase System Significant Launch Would Solution Cost More Magnitude Factor Allow Part Since Access Lot Than Orbit Order Public Public Access Breakthroughs Manned Lower Used Flight Compared Need

NASA works for the White House. There are many at NASA that wish they were building a modern replacement for the Shuttle. However, they had marching orders to instead work on other things, some of which should have no place in a research organization. Burt Rutan

Work Organization Wish Building White White House Research Other Some Had Instead House NASA However Were Replacement Modern Orders Place Which Should Many Works Marching Things Shuttle

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? Burt Rutan

You Experience Safety Space Few Flying Airlines Those Per Risk Look Terms Operating Were Years Close Times Get Door Space Shuttle Dying After Planes Flight Roughly Shuttle

By 1973, we had a space station, the Skylab, and we had multiple probes going up to planets. So, all this wonderful stuff happened in 10 to 15 years. About that time, there should have been enormous initiatives to make it affordable for people to fly in space, not just a handful of trained NASA astronauts and Russian cosmonauts. Burt Rutan

Time People Wonderful Space Fly Enormous Astronauts Station About Russian Had Stuff Make NASA Been Years Handful Up Trained Affordable Going Just Space Station Happened Planets Should Multiple Initiatives

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