[anniegetyourgun]

True. All the pre-launch analysis would still be there if this crew had returned safely. In fact, the guy who 'wrote to the President' about all this is undoubtedly not the first guy to end-run NASA to plead for funding. It's very sad.

[HairOfTheDog]

True. All the pre-launch analysis would still be there if this crew had returned safely. In fact, the guy who 'wrote to the President' about all this is undoubtedly not the first guy to end-run NASA to plead for funding. It's very sad.

I have been around publicly funded agencies enough to know that if there is ever a funding cut, the argument against is always that the agency absolutely can't function with any less.