It says a lot about the insane dangers of the Space Shuttle in particular. There were several issues with its design that made it an accident waiting to happen, notably its spotty abort coverage on ascent (even worse pre-Challenger) and the exposure of its fragile thermal tiles to debris falling off the external tank. Both issues stem from basic architectural choices and could not easily have been solved without a radical redesign.
I think Dragon 2 could easily be roughly an order of magnitude more reliable than the shuttle, if not more. It has full abort coverage and a TPS that doesn't habitually receive damage from falling debris, and is more robust to impacts besides; and its record so far is exemplary.
I think Dragon 2 could easily be roughly an order of magnitude more reliable than the shuttle, if not more. It has full abort coverage and a TPS that doesn't habitually receive damage from falling debris, and is more robust to impacts besides; and its record so far is exemplary.