Breaking News - Discovery: Scrubbed!

John Steinberg wrote:
In related news, mission controllers at The Kennedy Space Center have
been forced to request an emergency congressional funding increase due
to the rising cost of diesel fuel.

Not for the Shuttle, but rather the crawler-transporter. Using some 150
gallons of fuel/per mile, the crawler-transporter budget has been just
blown out of the water.

Said crawler-transporter driver, Richard Kemhultz, "This year we really
were hoping to buy some huge dubs for this ride, but that's all gone to
heck now."

Can't they find funds for the diesel fuel by selling off one of their
toilets on E-Bay?

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

I get some comfort out of the rising cost of fuel oil since it makes it
much more expensive for the neighbors to run me out of town by
torchlight.
Marty

"John Steinberg" wrote in message ...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/0...tle/index.html

A faulty fuel sensor aboard the space shuttle Discovery forced NASA on
Wednesday to scrub its first attempt to launch a shuttle after the
Columbia disaster in 2003.

That wooshing sound is the collective relief sigh
of local station managers that were set to carry the
launch while pre-empting soaps and tabloid talk shows.



--

Hilton Evans
---------------------------------------------------------------
Lon -71° 04' 35.3"
Lat +42° 11' 06.7"
---------------------------------------------------------------
Webcam Astroimaging
http://home.earthlink.net/~hiltoneva...troimaging.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------
ChemPen Chemical Structure Software
http://www.chempensoftware.com

In related news, mission controllers at The Kennedy Space Center have
been forced to request an emergency congressional funding increase due
to the rising cost of diesel fuel.

Not for the Shuttle, but rather the crawler-transporter. Using some 150
gallons of fuel/per mile, the crawler-transporter budget has been just
blown out of the water.


NASA should organize a "SPACE AID" benefit concert. Willy Nelson, you
readin this??

I (Brian Tung) asked:
Can't they find funds for the diesel fuel by selling off one of their
toilets on E-Bay?

John Steinberg answered:
Probably, but I suspect such a move might not sit well with the Shuttle
crew.

And vice versa.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

Brian Tung wrote in message ...
John Steinberg wrote:
In related news, mission controllers at The Kennedy Space Center have
been forced to request an emergency congressional funding increase due
to the rising cost of diesel fuel.

Not for the Shuttle, but rather the crawler-transporter. Using some 150
gallons of fuel/per mile, the crawler-transporter budget has been just
blown out of the water.

Said crawler-transporter driver, Richard Kemhultz, "This year we really
were hoping to buy some huge dubs for this ride, but that's all gone to
heck now."

Can't they find funds for the diesel fuel by selling off one of their
toilets on E-Bay?

Brian Tung


or simply by not _purchasing_ more toilets ?
Seriously, I have seen some budget fragments related to simple items like
toilets and faucets and the government contracts these at appaling costs .
I've seen a regular $100 Home Depot style sink billed at $50k , and that was
15-20 years ago . That was one time I regretted being an electronic engineer
and not a government construction contractor .

best regards,
matt tudor

matt:
or simply by not _purchasing_ more toilets ?
Seriously, I have seen some budget fragments related to simple items like
toilets and faucets and the government contracts these at appaling costs .
I've seen a regular $100 Home Depot style sink billed at $50k , and that was
15-20 years ago . That was one time I regretted being an electronic engineer
and not a government construction contractor .

In my 32 years in government I never witnessed such an abuse. In my
final tour I was the budget man for a large logistical organization. If
we needed a sink we went to Home Depot and bought it at a price
substantially less than you would pay; lower than any but perhaps the
largest contractor, buying by the thousands, would pay. Ditto a toilet
or a faucet. Everything we bought we bought at the lowest price
consistent with avoiding the false economy of buying inferior goods.

I'm afraid that in the absence of evidence in the form of purchase
records, I'm going to list your allegation under Urban Legends. What I
witnessed in my 32 years is typical of government purchasing. To
paraphrase your man Rumsfeld, are there ever exceptions, and is there
ever fraud? Yes, of course. But fraud is the rare exception, not the
rule.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

Thats in the same catagory as selling illegals back to their home countries!
good luck - it might work!!


Brian Tung wrote:

John Steinberg wrote:
In related news, mission controllers at The Kennedy Space Center have
been forced to request an emergency congressional funding increase due
to the rising cost of diesel fuel.

Not for the Shuttle, but rather the crawler-transporter. Using some 150
gallons of fuel/per mile, the crawler-transporter budget has been just
blown out of the water.

Said crawler-transporter driver, Richard Kemhultz, "This year we really
were hoping to buy some huge dubs for this ride, but that's all gone to
heck now."

Can't they find funds for the diesel fuel by selling off one of their
toilets on E-Bay?

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt