Is that a fair comparison? The Apollo deaths happened very early in the program, while we were still figuring out how to spaceflight. In contrast, the Columbia disaster occurred when the Shuttle was a well-established vehicle.
Hypothetically, if Apollo kept flying as many missions as Shuttle, I wonder if it might have been safer.
More deaths but more missions. Overall shuttle was safer.
Apollo 0.21 deaths per mission. Shuttle 0.10 deaths per mission.
Is that a fair comparison? The Apollo deaths happened very early in the program, while we were still figuring out how to spaceflight. In contrast, the Columbia disaster occurred when the Shuttle was a well-established vehicle.
Hypothetically, if Apollo kept flying as many missions as Shuttle, I wonder if it might have been safer.