On 11/11/2010 2:16 PM, Rick Jones wrote:

Meanwhile, SpaceX is still awaiting regulatory approval from the
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the mission. The
company submitted its license application more than a year ago,
but the FAA is still reviewing data on the Dragon capsule's
planned atmospheric re-entry.

...and you know, it's not like they intend to land the Dragon in Central
Park either...it's designed for a sea landing, and no matter if they go
one, two, or the hoped-for three orbits, they already know where they
intend it to come down at with a fair degree of accuracy.
Hell of a lot better than NASA did with Skylab, or will probably do for
the HST.
I still picture this red-hot giant glass Frisbee of a mirror gliding
down somewhere in Vanuatu, and being taken as a holy sign of John Frum's
imminent return: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult
And who knows? With the price fragments of it could get on eBay, it may
well be a gift from John Frum to the people of those islands, as his
Holy Messenger - Tom Navy - predicted. ;-)

Pat