Insanity Shuttle Needs Leadership

According to a report by Warren E. Leary of the New York Times, "Inspectors found a crack in the foam insulation of the space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank early today."

There is a failure to lead when one pushes an initiative that is already dead. In its continued efforts to show us all that it can fly the shuttle one more time, NASA's leadership is demonstrating the most fundamental of leadership problems: denial.

In repeating past behavior and expecting a different result (one definition of insanity) NASA leaders continue to attempt to bandaid the space shuttle's many problems. They have poured billions into their own denial about and fantasy that the flawed and cracked technology, invented when appliance colors were advocado and burnt orange and Nixon was in his first term, might somehow miraculously be transformed into something safe and worthy of national pride.

The three shuttles that remain in service after two were blown up have been flying, on average, for 22 years. In technological terms, this reflects design/development six generations out of date.

We're all just hoping the next one doesn't blow up. That, more than anything else, should tell the leadership team at NASA that the program is dead, and free them up to deploy the next generation of technology.