The second-to-last Space Shuttle mission, STS-133, is now set to launch no earlier than February 24th. This thing has been postponed more times than I can remember (including a planned launch during the first week in December...when I was in Orlando and could have seen it..grumble). The root cause of these delays is due to seemingly constant repair work to the external tank. There are several cracks in the tank that keep developing. Engineers are using support structures known as radius blocks to support the stringer beams that hold the tank together. These cracks need to be addressed because of the nature of the propellants that fill it (superchilled hydrogen and oxygen...not exactly ordinary gasoline).
I understand the concern. Ever since STS-107 NASA has been hyper-sensitive to even the slightest potential compromise to the safety of the crew, and rightfully so.
What I don't seem to understand is how an object that has been sent into space dozens of times (and is allowed to burn up upon depletion) all of a sudden seems to have cracks that can't ever be properly fixed. Makes you wonder what the safety standards were in the 80s and 90s...even after Challenger.
Yes, the Space Shuttle is old (70s technology) and it needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, you don't exactly hear a lot of news about what is being done to replace it, which is quite a bit, even though we seem to be regressing back to the Apollo-style capsules of the 60s. Whatever works I guess. Nevertheless, if I/ITSEC taught me anything, it's that we need buzz. We need excitment. We need a Kennedy-esque moon speech to get the country jazzed up about space again. Unfortunately, I don't think space is as high on the government's wish list as it really should be.
The last mission, STS-134, is set to launch in April. At this rate, Endeavour won't get off the ground until 2013. After that? Who knows?
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