Software Question Delays Launch Of Gravity B Probe
Einstein was right. Gravity works. NASA's Gravity Probe B is
still stuck firmly to terra firma.
Well, it wasn't all Einstein's fault. Seems the probe, one of the
most precise scientific instruments ever designed, didn't launch
Monday because someone forgot to load high altitude wind data
aboard the launch vehicle. Or maybe they did. The point is, nobody
knows. With time running short on a critical one-second launch
window, NASA engineers decided they'd rather be safe than
sorry.
Gus Grissom took a packet of dimes. Alan Shephard took his
seven-iron.
When Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers launches for the International
Space Station this week, he'll take with him a comic book and a
lump of cheese. Specifically, he's taking a lump of "mature" Dutch
cheese (phew!) and a sci-fi comic.
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