We're all just sitting around the newsroom waiting for the shuttle to land after a first wave-off because of some low clouds around the runway. Oops, there's the second wave-off. Next landing attempt will be in 24 hours. I hope they brought some good books along with them. This is one monstrous machine, supposedly built to survive the extreme conditions of reentry into the atmosphere. So, why do I keep hearing words like "delicate" and "fragile" when people start talking about the heat tiles? What's the problem? I was scrubbing my ceramic-coated dutch oven last week after whipping up a batch of Klingon Blood Stew and started wondering, why can't NASA bond their heat tiles to the shuttle the way Martha Stewart bonded ceramic to this pot? There is nothing delicate about my beloved Dutch oven. Oven cleaner and even steel wool don't scratch it. I think it's time to encourage private enterprise to take over our space program (whatever it is). I mean, SpaceShipOne doesn't have these kinds of problems. Instead of spending billions on NASA, just offer a billion-dollar prize for the first person who goes to Mars and back. Somebody will find a way to do it on the cheap. Last week I saw the Master Blasters launch one of those little Cooper clown cars 1,400 feet over some goal posts. Never underestimate the capabilities of entrepreneurs.
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