NASA engineers have reportedly found a five-inch long in a critical area of the Space Shuttle and are meeting to discuss their options, which include calling off the launch attempt scheduled for tomorrow.

Sources: CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel.

[Edited 2006-07-03 16:25:27]

Update: The latest news from MSNBC is that the Shuttle's manufacturer apparently recommends that the launch proceed as scheduled. This has not been confirmed with other sources.

[Edited 2006-07-03 16:42:21]

cant you get a buch of duct tape or a 40' diameter pull tie and slap on it?

lol

  

Nice, this joke is getting sillier by the day!

/M

The latest, as of a news article posted at 7:17 p.m. today, is that NASA has decided to go ahead with the countdown.

See:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1501AP_Space_Shuttle.html

Right now I'm watching NASA's television channel to see if there is any coverage of this news. (Nice shots of astronauts exiting their T-38's.)

Good link to a blog from (seemingly) inside NASA:

http://www.floridatoday.com/floridatoday/blogs/spaceteam/

If you scroll down a bit, they've got a nice picture of the exact spot in question, which you can click for a bigger view. Nice...

They say there is not as much structural damage and plan to keep the countdown going.. the teams took about 4-5 hours going over situations about the ice forming etc. thats what i heard when watching NASA tv

"No, trust us guys. It'll be fine!"  

Can we just ground the fleet and build a museum around them? Time to change the name of the program to the "Space ShIttle."

Er, NASA want to do just that, then move to the CEV programme.

But, the ISS needs certain items that can only be launched by Shuttle.
The Hubble needs a servicing mission.

What NASA do is risky, everyone involved is a volunteer, all spaceflight, even after well over 100 STS missions, is effectively an experimental flight.
That it was once billed as otherwise was a political necessity.

If in the past, we had the attitude NASA face now, we would never have had aviation advances, maybe no aviation at all.

Unbelieveable, against the advice of Head Engineer and Health and Safety officer this thing is going to Lauch!

oh T-29 minutes

Tom

Quoting AirRyan (Reply 8): Can we just ground the fleet and build a museum around them? Time to change the name of the program to the "Space ShIttle."

The U.S. made a committment to its international partners to launch their parts of the International Space Station. The remaining number of Shuttle flights are the minimum number to accomplish that. They also have bowed to political pressure to launch one more mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

After that, off to the museums! (Probably... Discovery to the Smithsonian at Dulles Airport, replacing Enterprise which goes to NASA Dryden at Edwards AFB, Atlantis stays at Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour goes to Johnson Space Center in Houston.)

Quoting Thorny (Reply 11): Endeavour goes to Johnson Space Center in Houston

I just hope they put them in-doors and do a better job than they did with their Saturn V. I haven't been inside the enclosure they built around the vehicle, but it looked pretty crummy from the outside.

KSC did a great job with their Saturn V exhibit.

I haven't seen any of the Saturn V exhibits mentioned above first-hand. I did visit the Air & Space Museum in D.C. in the late 1980's. It was quite nice.