I totally agree with you. The heck with dead lines and scheduals. If a sensors information is faulty, then cancel the launch. Whats more important, the shuttle itself or the lives onboard...... I personally believe we should develope a program where we use robotics to replace humans in space. They don`t eat, they don`t breath, they don`t create waste, and they don`t sleep. They may break down once and awhile , but so do we.Just have back up systems to take over until the primary system is back up and running. Look at our probes that we send to the planets and comets, seems to me they have a pretty good track record and if you lose one during a mishap all you lose is information and money. Not lives.....I`m just rammling off topic, back to weather.......Weatherchef