msmemory_archive: (Default)
msmemory_archive ([personal profile] msmemory_archive) wrote2005-07-13 01:56 pm

Scrubbed

The launch of STS Discovery this afternoon has been indefinitely postponed.

[identity profile] bubbette.livejournal.com 2005-07-14 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
Would you drive your car around if the gas gauge said "empty"?

Now, would you do it with a $2 billion space package and a few warm bodies?

(My favorite part from the last week is what they plan to do in case Discovery's tiles are damaged and can't be repaired. 11 people at ISS is bad enough, but the part where they would deorbit Discovery, let it burn up in the atmosphere, and crash what's left into the ocean was just silly.

Then again, the next shuttle crash will probably put STS out of business. Congress will kill off any manned space funding until the next launch system comes on line.)

[identity profile] msmemory.livejournal.com 2005-07-14 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I think it was the RIGHT decision. That doesn't mean I'm not disappointed.

[identity profile] metahacker.livejournal.com 2005-07-14 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, they're trying to figure out how to repair the tiles in situ, but it's hard...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4676473.stm