Thursday, July 28, 2005

Crossed fingers and prayers

This from Yahoo:

"The U.S. space agency said flying debris captured on video at Discovery's launch on Tuesday was too similar to what brought down shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003, and showed that the debris problem was not fixed after 2 1/2 years of work and more than $1 billion in safety improvements."

I don't get it. To the list of so many other things I don't get, this climbs the list to the top.
Wasn't that the first thing they'd have fixed? For a BILLION dollars?

"NASA officials believe Discovery is unharmed and will be able to come home on Aug. 7, but they do not know when shuttles will fly again. Atlantis was scheduled to launch in September.
Images showed chunks of foam missing from at least three places on Discovery's external fuel tank, including one almost as big as the piece that struck Columbia. There are also nicks in the protective tiles on Discovery's belly."


The nation will sigh a great big collective sigh of relief when this brave crew lands successfully.

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