perfidy

Independent investigators have released their report assessing the causes of the crash of the shuttle Columbia earlier this year. First among the findings is that NASA's own culture led to laziness, non-redundancy, bloat, and system breakdowns which ultimately resulted in the conditions that killed seven astronauts.

The Boston Globe coverage is pretty good; I suggest you read it.

Finally, I would like to point out a key phrase that I hope becomes very, very important within NASA in the next few months: "Given the current design of the orbiter, there was no possibility for the crew to survive." Now, what's the best way to fix THAT problem, one wonders?