More foam cracks on the PAL ramp.

At the current flight rate, if they get it off next fall, the cost per flight will be many billions. Either fly it, or retire it, but stop wasting all this time and money on trying (in futility) to make it safe.

Pull the plug already. And Rick Tumlinson is pretty good on this point:

• Announce the shuttle program is over except for one last glorious flight to save the Hubble telescope. The agency should swallow a little short-term pride and buy a package deal of astronaut rides on the Soyuz (buy them at the current commercial rate, and get a discount for quantity - this really works every day outside of government).

• If NASA cannot wiggle out of agreements to carry ISS components, often cited as the reason for keeping the shuttle going, either quickly build a shuttle-based side mounted, arm equipped, low-tech container or convert one of the shuttles to remote control (DARPA and the Russians know how to do this one).

Either quit ISS (and ask Condi to do some of that diplomacy stuff folks say she is so good at) or finish ISS with launchers we can later use for other stuff. Of course, that call must be made by someone who is above Mike Griffin's pay grade. Maybe at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

If you're not going to finish the ISS with the Shuttle, Hubble doesn't make any sense either. It would cost several billion for the repair using Shuttle if it's kept going long enough to do the mission. Better to use that money to accelerate Webb, or to put up a prize for repair.

Unless that singular HST flight can be made very soon, it makes no sense to fly it at all. The cost of keeping the shuttle program going will dwarf the cost of just replacing the HST entirely. And, yes, HST will be allowed to reenter uncontrollably.

Hubble rescue would be for the PR value.

Otherwise I am more agnostic on Hubble than I once was. If no more orbiter flights, ever, included no Hubble rescue I'd be okay with that. If Hubble rescue provided a positive spin for the very last flight of orbiter, I'd be okay with that, also.

Oh, and Paul Dietz is absolutely correct. HST rescue must be very soon, or never, and the potential for uncontrolled re-entry is not worth spending billions to prevent.

IMHO, as always.

It is not just safety concerns about the shuttle that cost billions: Just think of how much the EPA is costing us. And forget not about OSHA, nor child-proofing everything, etc. for a very long list.

I did my military turn and I support troops who have to do the stupid things that their superiors order. But I didn't have newspapers taking my e-mails and getting me better armor. Come to think of it, I didn't even have e-mail.

So, would going back to the old foam formula stop the problem with cracking, etc.?

Darrell, no amount of kludging will make the shuttle a good design.

It is time to retire the whole shuttle fleet. If NASA lays off 20000 or so people as a result, well, good.