[anymouse]

Thank you Al Gore and the environazies.

[anymouse]

Space ping.

[Carry_Okie]

Thank you Al Gore and the environazies.

What I want to know is if Bush didn't have the balls to tell the greenies to take a hike on this one. If the Montreal Protocol is the reason the Shuttle has been grounded, heads should roll.

[the_Watchman]

The foam during the Columbia disaster was replacement over "environmental" issues. The original foam had not exhibited a tendency to break off. Have they reverted to the original foam, or are they still risking people's lives over Global Warming?

[kyperman]

OK, what the heck has NASA been doing for the past two years? It is completely insane that the exact same problem that killed 7 on Columbia happened again. I thought they spent the past two years and millions this very issue. For it to happen again is beyond belief...what kind of shop are they running down there?

If I was the current crew, I would be furious that they allowed this to happen again. I realize that space travel is a very dangerous business and you can never be sure that nothing will go wrong...but at least fix known problems...just plain crazy.

[LibertarianInExile]

I just want to hear NASA confirm it followed the same procedures it always has to ensure that the tiles in this area were affixed properly. If that's true, either the glue maker or the tile maker is doing something different and wrong. If that's NOT true, NASA is doing something wrong.

Either way, someone needs to be bouncing on asphalt for this cockup.

[rs79bm]

Thankfully it didn't harm the orbiter. I'll reserve any furthur judgement until the mission is over. While I am confident the crew will return safely, it does no good to second guess anybody while we have a crew in space.

[Fitzcarraldo]

The external tank is not available for inspection...this will not happen again.

[spycatcher]

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/7/11/121741.shtml

http://www.watchblog.com/republicans/archives/000764.html

[Jaysun]

NASA is now kowtowing to the Enviro-commies? I wish we'd just scrap the whole thing.

[mo]

WTF has been going on down at NASA the last TWO YEARS anyhow? What do you mean "until foam issue fixed"!!!!The foam issue crashed the LAST shuttle-and TWO YEARS later we've just kicked another crew up there "to see what happpens"!!!...but we'll fix the "foam issue" later. Sheeesh..what kind of astronauts we got that will put up with this @#ap!!

[Sen Jack S. Fogbound]

Just what is the Montreal Protocol?

[carlr]

I`m sure some won`t like this but I have to ask,why are we wasting time and money on this thing?
If we as a country feel it is in our national interest to explore space,which I think is still open to debate,than lets do it.
Lets find a way to extract product (oil or other source of energy) from the Moon or Mars or gain a military advantage (we are the only country that does`nt seek to exploit or dominate from its military advances)so maybe it will be a deterrence to our enemies.
If the shuttle is`nt providing either and is imposing a human risk on top of a monetary burden than end it.

[microgood]

If you think about it, with the EPA around, human space travel is no longer safe for the US. I guess we'll have to give over the exploration of space to a country that does not have to answer to the EPA.

[Ciexyz]

Prayers for their safe return.

[Retired Chemist]

During the STS-87 mission, there was a change made on the external tank. Because of NASA's goal to use environmentally friendly products, a new method of "foaming" the external tank had been used for this mission and the STS-86 mission. It is suspected that large amounts of foam separated from the external tank and impacted the orbiter

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/people/journals/space/katnik/sts87-12-23.html

[Blood of Tyrants]

Here is a quick solution: go back to the OLD foam that didn't fall off and tell the envirowhackos to go kill a truck load of puppies.

[KevinDavis]

Yep...

[yhwhsman]

The Columbia disaster is not the first time the environmentalist have destroyed a shuttle.

This is not the first time that has happened. The cause of the 1986 Challenger explosion is officially established as hot gases burning through an O-ring joint in one of the solid-rocket boosters. NASA was roundly criticized for its decision to launch in cold weather over the objection of some engineers, but there was a deeper cause that was not as widely reported.

In 1985 NASA had switched to a new putty to seal the O-ring joints. The new putty became brittle at cold temperatures, thus allowing Dr. Richard Feynman to teach NASA a famous lesson. At the congressional hearing investigating the accident, he simply placed some of the O-ring putty in a glass of ice water and crumbled it in his fingers.

NASA had changed the sealant because its original supplier for O-ring putty stopped producing it for fear of anti-asbestos lawsuits.

Excerpted from Earth Worshippers Cause Death in Space: Environmental Dogma Has Led to the Sacrifice of Fourteen Astronauts on the Space Shuttle

[HiTech RedNeck]

Discovery's astronauts were told of the foam loss before going to sleep Wednesday.

Oh, so THAT is what that KLUNK was??? G'nite, zzzzzzz.....

[aquila48]

The flight back is going to be a real nail biter - could break rating records.

Wish them all the luck!