NASA HIDES SPACE SHUTTLE FROM LIGHTNING STORM 

July 13 2009

Cape Canaveral, FL – The visions of the space shuttle program has always been a valiant one. Commissioned by then-President Richard Nixon, the shuttle program was designed to be a revolution in space flight. By creating a reusable low orbit space
vessel NASA planned to explore near space and expand our knowledge of how the
Universe worked. The initial launches proved the promise of those early days but very quickly things changed. Bogged down by exorbitant costs, major disasters, and an overall unwieldy piece of hardware the space shuttle has never fulfilled the vision or the early success of the program which has lead to its impending demise.

It is perhaps then no surprise that the latest launch of the shuttle, on the last before the fleet is decommissioned in 2010, has been scrubbed numerous times. Initially planned for July 12, the penultimate flight of the space shuttle Endeavour has been delayed numerous times due to inclement weather. As yet NASA officials have not declared when they will launch but instead are waiting for the weather to clear before they make another attempt. With the shuttle hiding on its pad waiting for the thunder and lightning to go away, many are watching the failed launch with something akin to bemusement.

“Put simply the shuttles do not react well to weather, especially lightning. While in theory it would be possible to launch in these conditions it makes a lot more sense for us to just take it easy and launch when conditions are perfect. That reduces the possibility of some kind of cataclysmic distemper in the launch systems or the body of the vessel,” said a NASA spokesperson. “We have learned through hard-earned experience that it is much easier to just wait these things out than it is to force the issue. Getting too aggressive causes all kinds of headaches and drama and it is not, especially at this late stage of the Endeavour’s life cycle, worth all that fuss. We’ll wait until things clear and then get her up there.”

NASA has made no comment on the costs associated with a delay but is believed to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, money which the organization doesn’t have a whole lot of use for and so is able to spend without consequence.

“I suppose it makes sense to not push things at this late stage. With only one more flight after this one the last thing you want is drama, especially the kind of drama that a space shuttle can create. Unfortunately this has been the story of the space shuttle program. What should have been exceedingly durable and versatile machines have become very temperamental
especially in the latter stages of their lives.  Everything started out with such incredible promise, but here we are,” said Scrape TV Science analyst Dr. Howard Poe. “At this stage it makes perfect sense for NASA to just want to keep the launch back a couple of days in order to avoid the headaches that come with forcing the shuttle to do something it obviously does not want to do. Sometimes it’s just easier that way.”

It is believed that despite the extended relationship NASA officials are also growing tired of the temperamental nature of the shuttles and are eager to get away from them as quickly as possible, even willing to live without a spacecraft for a number of years before the ‘Orion’ program is launched.

“There’s no doubt that they have learned a lot from the shuttle program, patience course being the biggest lesson. I have no doubt that the next time around they will go about things a lot
more carefully. Of course there can always be wildcards and no matter how carefully you vet a candidate and how sure you are of the situation unexpected things can happen,” continued Poe. “Hopefully though both sides will have a peaceful future. NASA can go on exploring the Universe and the space shuttles can sit in their hangars away from the noise and danger of the real world.”

NASA officials hope the weather will clear up by Tuesday and allow them to coax the shuttle out for another attempt.    

Anna Phillips, Science Correspondent

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