Flight controllers for the second day in a row Sunday scrubbed the launch of space shuttle Discovery, poised for liftoff beneath murky gray skies as lightning crackled and thunderstorms rumbled. NASA officials said they will try again Tuesday. . . . Should Tuesday bring a successful launch, it will mark the first time in the shuttle's 25-year history that the craft — in effect an enormous rocket — launched on Independence Day. John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team, called it 'a great gift NASA can give to the nation.' (Washington Post, Monday)
It's a more fitting day for a private space launch.
FEE Timely Classic
Has a New Era of Space Venture Arrived? by Raymond J. Keating