Up to six pieces of debris that could be foam insulation fell off Discovery's external fuel tank minutes after liftoff Tuesday, July 4^th.  Officials cautioned, however, that it was too soon to know whether the debris struck Discovery and that the pieces came off later than would normally endanger the shuttle.  They do not yet know what size the debris is but NASA officials say that they expected some of the foam to come off the external fuel tank but it is not supposed to be of any size of danger to the shuttle.  Columbia's demise in February 2003 was caused by foam insulation that peeled off seventy seconds after liftoff and struck its heat shield.

I just can't believe that its been three years since the Columbia disaster and about one year since the last launching and the NASA team still cannot get this foam from flying off the external fuel tank.  What are we paying these guys to do?  Do they want another shuttle disaster like the one that happened in 2003 to Columbia.  There should be no excuse for this problem to still be occuring.  To me, it sounds like this foam is doing more harm than good.  They need to try to redesign the making of the foam so it don't crack while just sitting on the launch pad or fly off while in take-off endangering the orbitor in either way.  I forget how much of our national budget goes to NASA but come on, this is the best we can do.  I really hope they understand what would happen if another shuttle would burn up during re-entry.  It would probably mean an ending to the whole space progam as we know it, and many of their jobs would be at stake for sure.  Someone needs to step up and fix this problem before another disaster happends. 

I personally love the space program.  It has provided us with so many advancements and new technologies in the past that would have never been developed otherwise.  From medicines to electronic technologies, the space program provided an advancement in all these areas and all inbetween.  Outer space is our future, our destiny.  We must continue to strive for the beyond.  The only thing standing in our way it seems like is foam insulation.