It doesn't take a rocket scientist

NASA's new line: the same unexplained problem that put off the last planned Discovery launch now isn't worth worrying about.

At an evening news conference, Hale and other NASA officials found themselves defending the decision to launch with a fuel gauge failure. They stressed that they will proceed with a liftoff only if the problem is well understood and involves the gauges in question - anything else will result in a postponement...

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said he supports the decision and even hopes the problem recurs to further pinpoint the source of the trouble. He acknowledged that the public might perceive that the space agency is rushing to launch, but insisted it was the right technical judgment.

If NASA wants the problem to recur so as to be able to better figure out its nature, wouldn't that suggest that it's something less than well understood?

At the moment, the administrators are trying to justify going ahead against public pressure to the contrary. But how much stronger will that public pressure be if Discovery meets the same fate as Columbia? This may well be the end of the line for the current shuttle program - and with that at stake NASA seems willing to launch on hope rather than anything approaching knowledge.