123c72038fb7
tech



Hello Mark - 

CA>>> After something like 3 years to prepare there were
CA>>> problems with the fuel guages, 

ML>> low fuel sensor... and a backup to the backup at that... 

CA>> With costs in the billions of dollars I expect better. 

ML> dunno why... most things go to the lowest bidder... just
ML> look at the highways and many of our buildings... 

Everything doesn't go to the lowest bidder. If there are
reasons to suspect the lowest bidder has made an error or is
not capable of performing the next lowest or 'other' can be
given the contract. There is no law saying the lowest bidder
gets the contract. 

CA>>> a chunk of foam falling off during the launch, 

ML>> normal... has happened on every launch... and how many of
ML>> them have there been in total?? 

CA>> 'Normal' killed some people, remember? 

ML> no, that was a bit different... that was a major chunk, it
ML> hit a wing and they didn't do an inspection like they
ML> should have... 

No, it's not different. How many days would you drive your car
back and forth to work with parts falling off at random before
you turned it over to a competent mechanic or junked it and
purchased one not littering the highway with it's parts? 

CA>>> pieces of 'cloth' sticking out between the tiles, 

ML>> another normal occurance... they've been found/seen after
ML>> landing and they apparently caused no problems during
ML>> those decents... so why make such a big deal of them this
ML>> time?? 

CA>> Sure. Why not have them ALL sticking out to make the
CA>> shuttle look 'furry'? 

ML> hahaha... right... they're not that big ;) 

CA>>> and some 'blanket' heat shield that was torn. 

ML>> ii can't speak to that... yes, it shouldn't have been...
ML>> it should have been repaired... however, i'm not aware of
ML>> how or when it got torn or how it was discovered... it
ML>> wasn't discovered on the launch pad, was it? they didn't
ML>> fly with it, did they? 

CA>> Was discovered in orbit. 

ML> hunh? i thought it was behind the nosecone?? how'd that get
ML> discovered in orbit? 

You'd have to ask NASA that question. 

CA>>> I'd call that sloppy. 

ML>> it ain't sloppy like a sloppy joe... i can't call it
ML>> sloppy... however, i will agree that someone (several of
ML>> them) weren't doing their jobs completely... 

Not doing their jobs completely IS my definition of sloppy. 

CA>> What can we expect for a billion dollars these days eh?
CA>> We're lucky they even bother to launch anything at all.
CA>> Why should they? 

ML> for one thing, to finish a job costing many countries a lot
ML> of money and for another just to complete the job they
ML> started... 

Sounds like Bush's rationale for continuing a pointless
invasion of Iraq. 

>
>        ,                          ,
>      o/      Charles.Angelich      \o       ,
>       __o/
>     / >          USA, MI           < \   __\__
 

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