Andy Borowitz has a scoop on the latest NASA screwup:

At the Johnson Space Center, spokesperson Harrison Froling said that NASA scientists were "working overtime" to try to remember why the space agency launched the Explorer 17b on May 17, 1995.

"We are confident that the Explorer 17b will expand our understanding of the solar system and the universe," Mr. Froling said. "We're just not sure how."

OTOH, I'll bet no one forgot to collect their paychecks for the project...

Considering that the article ended with "In related news, California announced that it would stop issuing ID cards to medical marijuana users because users couldn't stop giggling for long enough to have their pictures taken", I'd say this is a joke.

According to http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/multi/explorer.htmlm, there was an "Explorer 17" (not 17b), but it was launched in 1963 and is no longer functional.

Satire it might be but....believable satire!!!

Sorry, I thought it was obvious that it was a joke. It was in the "Satire" category. And it was from Andy Borowitz.

If Jeff was going directly to the post instead of the main page he wouldn't see the satire tag.

"Borowitz", of course, is an obvious warning.

Wups, didn't see the tag, and obviously I'm unfamiliar with Borowitz.

It says something about NASA, though, that I got about halfway through the article before I realized it was satire.

It says something even worse that before I realized it was satire, I googled "explorer 17b" in the usenet archive to see if IT remembered. The fake Tom Delay quote about invading Syria for that kind of money didn't tip me off, either!