Space Shuttle Launch Delay
Suspect engine cut-off sensors are the cause for yet another delay of a space shuttle launch. My question is this: all this time, while the shuttle has sat idle — while highly paid experts inspect o-rings and insulators and sensors — how many satellites did Rupert Murdoch safely place in orbit? How many spy satellites has the military launched into space without incident? CNN? Time Warner?
We can launch a rocket and safely land a man on the moon, and then safely return him back to Earth. We can launch two seperate rockets and land them both safely on Mars. We can launch hundreds of satellites into orbit around the Earth without incident. Meanwhile, the ridiculously impotent and expensive shuttle program has lost TWO entire crews and wasted millions — maybe even billions — of dollars sitting on their hands because of heat shields, o-rings, and cut-off sensors.
When are we going to scrap this stupid shuttle program, and return to the rockets that have cost less, have been more powerful, and have been consistently safer?
