The Space Program

>> Saturday, July 01, 2006

I have always been an admirer of and been rather fascinated by the space program. I have always been glued to watching shuttle launches and landings. I went to space camp as a kid, and I just find the whole thing very interesting. I was a child when the Challenger disaster occurred, and it hit me very hard. From what mom tells me, I was basically a wreck for days. But that did not shake my interest in the space program and outer space...I still loved every bit of it.

Of course, Discovery's scheduled launch this afternoon was scrubbed due to the weather. They will attempt to launch again tomorrow afternoon.

Due to NASA's new regulations since the Columbia disaster, all launches are now during daylight. Not only does that significantly cut down on the possible launch times, but it also is harder to get good weather for launches. As you probably know, most Florida afternoon feature scattered storms, so the weather will continue to be a challenge for future launches.

I don't know if most people are aware of how strict and specific the criteria is for NASA to OK a shuttle launch. It is much more complex than you might imagine. Sean McLaughlin over at MSNBC wrote this article on just that...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13639227/

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