[JDulin]

For a brilliant rant on the horrible, useless design of the Space Shuttle, it's hard to beat Idle Words: http://www.idlewords.com/2005/08/a_rocket_to_nowhere.htm

[mstade]

This made me laugh:

    And of course, there was John Glenn, monitored inside and
    out, blood tested, urine sampled, entire organism analyzed
    for signs of accelerated aging. Close observation of the
    Senator suggested that there might not be any medical
    obstacles to launching the entire legislative branch into
    space, possibly the most encouraging scientific result of
    the mission.

[24gttghh]

Yet you skipped this one?

As tempting as it is to picture a blood-spattered Canadarm flinging goat carcasses into the void,...

[mstade]

Ha ha I wouldn't say skipped so much as cherry picked. There are plenty more golden nuggets in that article, the one I quoted just happened to be the one that had me laughing out loud.

[sqeaky]

There is so much to like about that essay, even the citations are good. Here is my favorite:

> The Soviet Shuttle, the Buran (snowstorm) was an aerodynamic clone of the American orbiter, but incorporated many original features that had been considered and rejected for the American program, such as all-liquid rocket boosters, jet engines, ejection seats and an unmanned flight capability. You know you're in trouble when the Russians are adding safety features to your design.