Bad Albert, lots of people nominally plan their vacations for the holiday time period, so they can go see Aunt Edna in Cleveland (or whomever). Indeed, it is standard for the office to be sparsely populated and fairly quiet. Except for those (a) covering a Shuttle launch and therefore working shift hours to support the MCC, preparing and inspecting the vehicle and launch systems, etc, or (b) those of us scrambling to meet hardware deliveries that don’t magically slip because Bush closes federal facilities on Monday. As someone suffering from the latter (especially since several people on the team are taking their vacations despite the schedule crunch), I really don’t hold it against the first group. You sound like someone who would complain because teachers get a three month holiday in the summer and you don’t.

Also note that the launch date was originally early enough that the mission would be over by Christmas, but launch delays rescheduled the flight at the last minute. Therefore, plenty of people had holiday plans made that they were being asked to postpone/cancel to support the mission. Did your boss come to you 2 days before your 2 week vacation you’ve had planned for the last year and tell you to cancel because he needs you to stay? That would be the equivalent case.

For example: at a Christmas party, you’re offered a drink to “celebrate the season.” Not wanting to be impolite, you have just one. The next morning, you’re feeling a little slower than normal in the morning, but not so bad you miss work. Looking over a system that you are responsible for inspecting, you fail to notice a damaged wiring harness. Later that day, you feel fine.

NASA’s managers are wise to postpone for a few extra days, preserve moral and protect the workplace. Yes, those folks are pros down at the Cape, but not everyone in a group so large and diverse as the ones working at Launch Services and its contractors are perfect.

Those poor exploited NASA peons. First thing tomorrow morning I’m going to march into my boss’s office and tell him I want to spend more time with my family and friends so I won’t be coming into work until Januray 10th!

I assume that every rocket that flies has fuel sensors, and that this isn’t a unquie problem?

Although I agree with Mc Atilla about how cool a ride the shuttle is, I still eagerly anticipate the arrival of Orion.

A big OT: has anyone now heard that the new lunar lander has an offical name? It’s called Altair.