They're tweaking Discovery's orbit so that it doesn't disintegrate over LA

[El Supremo]

Oh Great! Talk about bad PR.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050808/ts_nm/space_shuttle_dc;_ylt=ArnXenxMSW.mrKda6.ZnDTxZ.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[Eloriel]

1. Can you do something about your link?

Try http://www.tinyurl.com

Thanks. I'd LIKE to read the story.

[Bluebear]

3. The pertinent paragraph HERE

Collins planned to tweak Discovery's orbit slightly so that if the shuttle had to land in California, it would not fly over Los Angeles. Since the Columbia accident, which showered debris over Texas and Louisiana when the ship broke apart, NASA decided to avoid flying over heavily populated areas.

[noamnety]

4. link works fine for me, for what it's worth. (nt)

[El Supremo]

5. Sorry, it works for me.

Just go to Yahoo News and read the prominent story.

http://news.yahoo.com/

[Catch22Dem]

6. Original link worked fine here

It LOOKS broken up, but the clickable portion did take me to the correct article.

[benburch]

2. Well...

it is the responsible thing to do.

[Gold Metal Flake]

7. Great! I don't want that shit in MY backyard!

(ducking)

[confludemocrat]

8. Uhh, they're not gonna make it back are they?

I can see by this thread's tone that I am not alone in thinking that.

[greyl]

10. "This thread's tone" sucks. nt

[jim3775]

11. This is the safest space flight ever

Ever! This flight is safer than all previous human and robotic space flights ever carried out. It doesn’t mean it can't be safer or that there aren’t better alternatives, it can, and there is.

Several rockets fail a year and only two out of 113 shuttle launches have failed.

Before this mission NASA would just have to trust that the wing leading edge and the "belly" of the shuttle were intact, not any more. This was the most highly inspected and monitored mission NASA has ever done and this flight was the first time ever a flight vehicle has been inspected and repaired in-flight.

Discovery is coming back just fine.

[ConfuZed]

9. *whew*

Thanks Nasa, btw the astronauts must be shitting their (diapers?) right now.