Looks like I spoke too soon

NASA grounded future shuttle flights Wednesday because a big chunk of insulating foam flew off Discovery's fuel tank during liftoff - as it did with Columbia - but this time apparently missed the spacecraft.

"Until we're ready, we won't go fly again. I don't know when that might be," shuttle program manager Bill Parsons told reporters in a briefing Wednesday evening. . . .

The loss of a chunk of debris, a vexing problem NASA thought had been fixed, represents a tremendous setback to a space program that has spent 2 1/2 years and over $1 billion trying to make the 20-year-old shuttles safe to fly.

"Until we're ready, we won't go fly again. I don't know when that might be," Parsons told reporters in a briefing Wednesday evening.

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Ah, crap. Perhaps someone can explain to me how NASA can send men to the moon, but 35 years later, given two and a half years and a billion dollars, they can't figure out how to keep insulating foam stuck to the side of a frickin gas tank?