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NASA issues assurance of shuttle safety after window cover falls off
With the space shuttle Discovery set for launch in a few hours, NASA has issued a statement confirming that it is safe to fly and that barring bad weather the launch will go ahead as planned.
There had been fears yesterday that the launch might be delayed after a falling window cover had damaged some of the heat shield tiles. However, Harvey "Gus" Ramsbottom, a NASA spokesman, told reporters that the damage was minor and had been fully repaired. Asked what caused the cover to fall off he said it was a simple error, namely that the wrong kind of glue had been used to hold it in place.
"It was the kind of silly mistake that anyone could make," he said, "but we caught it, and we are now absolutely convinced that Discovery is safe to fly."
Standing in front of a large banner that read "Safety and qaulity is NASSA's primerry concern", he categorically denied that shuttle safety had been compromised by pressure to get the launches back on track in order to meet President "Boy" George W. Bush's commitment "to land a man on the sun before this parade is over and bring him back safely to Texas". He also strongly denied that NASA had outsourced the shuttle re-engineering work to Botswana.
Mr Ramsbottom was unable to answer questions as the podium upon which he was standing collapsed and he had to be helped out of the room. It was later discovered that the same kind of glue had been used to put it together.
Meanwhile President Bush is reported to have donned an astronaut suit and is anxiously waiting in the White House, bag of pretzels in hand, to watch the launch on Fox News.
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