Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life

by Ozan Varol

But for the space shuttle, reusability was neither quick nor complete. The cost of inspection and refurbishment was outrageously high, particularly given the infrequency of shuttle flights. The turnaround required “more than 1.2 million different procedures,” taking months and costing more than a new space shuttle.18 If you reason by analogy, you would conclude that reusable spacecraft are a bad idea. It didn’t work for NASA, so it won’t work for us. But this reasoning is flawed. The case against reusability was built on a single case study: the space shuttle. The problem, however, was with the shuttle itself, not with all reusable spacecraft.