Word: shippings
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...reports of damage to the spacecraft's thermal tiles caused by debris shed from the external fuel tank during liftoff on Monday. It was just that kind of mishap that doomed the shuttle Columbia and its seven-member crew back in 2003, allowing superheated gases to penetrate the ship during re-entry and causing it to disintegrate. That was the second shuttle to be lost in flight, after the explosion of Challenger in 1986. The hope now is that the three surviving ships can limp along without any further accidents for nine more missions - through 2010 or 2011 - after which...
...dangerous as it can be to fly the shuttles, the agency has done a commendable job of getting the debris problem under control since the loss of Columbia. Cameras on the underside of the ship send back live streaming videos throughout the launch phase, allowing controllers to monitor any foam or other material that is shed en route. Analysis of Atlantis' tapes show a relatively small debris hit at the 106-sec. mark in the ascent - at precisely the moment skin sensors also detected a strike in the area in which the dings have been spotted. That area, at about...
That being said, the sound quality was good, environs were cozy, and those who'd invested in the occasion were intent to party. Though the formal wasn't perfect, it's safe to say few, if any, Currierites were ready to jump ship...
...Polls show that most Republicans who haven't jumped ship want the party to move even further right; it takes vision to imagine a presidential candidate with national appeal emerging from a GOP primary in 2012. DeMint, the South Carolina Senator, greeted Specter's departure with the astonishing observation that he'd rather have 30 Republican colleagues who believe in conservatism than 60 who don't. "I don't want us to have power until we have principles," DeMint told TIME after firing up that tea-party crowd in Columbia. Voters certainly soured on unprincipled Republicans...
...shrieking mass of technological bells and whistles (look how George Lucas tarted up his own Star Wars franchise). Star Trek certainly looks as lively as an ambitious, action-oriented summer blockbuster ought, but Abrams is more interested in the characters than he is in showing off the ship, or the Big Bad, a fellow named Nero (Eric Bana) with a Black Hole complex. Abrams also pays homage to the original with a cameo by one of the old gang. That special guest has one scene too many, but there's a sweetness of intent that makes it forgivable...