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Shuttle Politics

Posted by michael on from the grandstanding dept.

TheLoneCabbage writes "Texas Rep. Joe Barton has been quoted today in an AP article saying that he is in favor of grounding the remaining fleet of shuttles. 'If we have to stop manned spaceflight for five or 10 years, then so be it.' The fine gentleman from Texas displays his outstanding grasp of statistics and engineering stating that 1 failure in every 62.5 flights is NOT acceptable. According to OpenSecrets.org this may have more to do with Joe's friends than how much attention he paid to his math teachers." There's also an interesting piece on testimony given by the first Shuttle program manager.

4 of 694 comments (clear)

  1. Why rush? by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Why rush it? According to his math in another 187.5 flights, the shuttle fleet will be destroyed anyways.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  2. Texas Education by Cyclopedian · · Score: 5, Funny

    There are two schools of thought in Texas:

    1) Edukayshun (phonetic manglings).
    2) Mathematical Miscalculation.

    I think they are planning on adding a third one in 2004:

    3) Piracy Through Accounting

    -Cyc

    --
    /.'s 10 Millionth
    1. Re:Texas Education by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


      it won't be sex education.

      Actually they have sex ed in Texas but they stagger the classes with days they do drivers ed; it's too hard on the horses otherwise.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
  3. Deep Space Homer by sacrilicious · · Score: 4, Funny

    From The Simpsons:

    Tom: It's a lovely day for a launch, here, live at Cape Canaveral, at
    the lower end of the Florida Peninsula, and the purpose of
    today's mission is truly, really electrifying.
    Man 2: That's correct, Tom. The lion's share of this flight will be
    devoted to the study of the effects of weightlessness on tiny
    screws.
    Tom: Unbelievable, and just imagine the logistics of weightlessness.
    And of course, this could have literally millions of applications
    here on Earth -- everything from watchmaking to watch repair.
    Homer: Boring.
    [tries to switch channels, but the batteries fall from the
    remote control]
    No! The batteries!
    Tom: Now let's look at the crew a little.
    Man 2: They're a colorful bunch. They've been dubbed "the Three
    Musketeers". Heh heh heh --
    Tom: And we laugh legitimately. There's a mathematician, a different
    _kind_ of mathematician, and a statistician.
    Homer: Make it stop! [panics]

    --
    - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.