ML>> sloppiness?? 

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.

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

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? 

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

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 those
ML> decents... so why make such a big deal of them this time?? 

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

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

 CA> Was discovered in orbit. 

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

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... 

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

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

)\/(ark