NASA managers have rejected last-ditch pleas from their top safety officer and chief engineer to scrap next month's shuttle launch, saying that they will press ahead despite potentially catastrophic risks.
The head of the US space agency, Dr Michael Griffin, overruled warnings that there was a "relatively high" chance the shuttle's external fuel tank could shed some of its solid foam coating when it launches on 1 July, carrying seven crew including Briton Piers Sellers, an Edinburgh University graduate.
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Um ... And the crew is all right with this? I don't mind putting my ass on the line for my country, but if you're asking me to go on a suicide mission, the Commies better be marching up Pennsylvania Avenue. I don't think trying to distract the American people from the horror in Iraq or the corruption at home qualifies.
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