As STS-126 Mission Aboard Endeavour Prepares for Launch - Is it Safe?

STS-126 has been planned for years with a mission to give the International Space Station the ability to support twice the crew currently living there. This 27th shuttle mission to the International Space Station (and 124th shuttle mission) is currently a "go" for a 7:55 PM EST launch on Nov. 14, 2008.

Meanwhile, Cosmic Log writer, Alan Boyle, asks "How safe is the shuttle?"

President Elect Barack Obama, as well as his former opponent John McCain, has called on NASA to consider flying the space shuttle fleet past its scheduled 2010 retirement date. Boyle says, "Now the space agency is providing some sobering estimates of the costs and the risks that would be involved - leading one seasoned space observer to wonder whether the shuttle program should be throttled back rather than extended."

While both this ISS expansion mission and the currently delayed Hubble servicing mission are important, we do not want a repeat of the Challenger or Columbia disasters. The cost of such tragedies in money and time and so very much more importantly lives is monumental.

Unfortunately, if we end the space shuttle program as planned or even earlier as some have suggested, there will be a long gap before the shuttle's successor is available for use. For at least 5 years we will need to rely on the Russians for transportation to and from the International Space Station.

It is true that most problems can not be solved by throwing money at them, however these difficult questions can not be answered without adequate funding.

I call on our newly elected president to ensure that science, and especially NASA, be provided the funding necessary to continue to function and improve the lives of all citizens of the US and the world.

Image Credits: NASA