[Lonesome in Massachussets]

It is now feared hoped that the scientists and engineers associated with the rocket will face prison sentences or death as scapegoats for the project’s failure.

The Germans had a number of failures before they succeeded at Peenemunde. One thing they did have was great teamwork and a relative absence of political interference. (Von Braun was arrested by the Gestapo once, but his boss managed to get him released. For such a high profile program, they had relatively little political interference.)

[SargeK]

Vanguard, Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia...

We had our share of failures. Blessedly few, though, considering the mind-boggling complexity of the whole endeavor.

It doesn’t help you get better if you shoot all of the top scientists and engineers and have to start all over. That kind of brain drain is hard to overcome. (pun intended)