Later today NASA plans to launch the space shuttle Discovery, the first shuttle launch in almost two and a half years. It seems that significant changes have been made not only to the shuttle itself but also the way the entire process is conducted so that an event like the Columbia disaster will not happen again. If you’ve never read the bio section, I did see the first space shuttle launch ever in person, although I was just over a year old. My dad worked for NASA years ago, and is an aerospace engineer although he has since moved on to software engineering. There have been 112 launches since the one I saw, and today will likely look just like most of the others. However it will be different, I’ve read quotes that this is the safest launch that NASA has ever done. In the past, I followed NASA and space exploration in general much more than I do currently, but I guess there hasn’t been much to follow for awhile now. Today, however, I am just as interested in this launch as I was years ago and hopefully I will be able to watch it all unfold via NASA TV. Be sure to either point your eyes toward a TV screen or the link provided around 3:51 Eastern Time (that’s 2:51 for me).

Damn, it looks like I posted 20 minutes too soon. NASA has scrubbed today’s launch because of a faulty engine cut-off sensor, which is responsible for making sure the engines shut down at the proper point during the ascent. If the engines were to continue running at high speed without fuel, it could lead to a catastrophe. No new date has been given for the next attempt.