NASA gave a progress update this week on how their safety improvements to the space shuttle are going. It turns out, a $.99 foam brush does the best job of applying a special patch material that the astronauts can use to repair the shuttle’s heat tiles. They’re also working on ways to get better photos of the shuttle as it launches – even at night; currently the shuttle’s exhaust is too bright at night to really see the vehicle well enough to spot problems. The space shuttle Atlantis will likely be the next to launch, some time in September 2004.
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