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From: snidely@inteloa.intel.com (David P. Schneider)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: "Commonplace"
Message-ID: <4391@omepd.UUCP>
Date: 8 May 89 18:26:26 GMT
References: <1429@sialis.mn.org> <24071@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: news@omepd.UUCP
Reply-To: snidely@inteloa.UUCP (David P. Schneider)
Organization: BiiN(tm) Corp, Hillsboro, Oregon  97124-5961
Lines: 42

In article <24071@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> labc-4da@web-2f.berkeley.edu (Bob Heiney) writes:

>For yesterday's launch of Atlantis, ABC only covered the last 2 and a
>half minutes of the countdown.  Yes, I know Ollie North's verdict came
>down at about the same time, but they weren't saying anything relevant
>about it.

NBC did better, coming in at about 5 minutes (I think).   In  fact,  that's
how  I discovered that they'd (NASA) had decided it was OK to shoot.  I was
also monitoring CNN, Headline News, and both CSPANs.  I don't know if  they
ever caught on.

>But the thing the annoys me the most is how they constantly talk over
>mission control.  I don't have access to NASA select, and would love
>to just listen to all the countdown and ascent audio, but I can never
>hear it because some network anchor is always blabbing on about some
>meaningless point.

CSPAN has been kind enough to give about an hour of NASA select on  one  or
the  other  channel.   I watched this, and taped it, for the first attempt.
But appearently, the editors were tripped up by the uncertainty of Thursday
count.   I  know I was suprised at how suddenly the count resumed, as there
was concern that the improvement in the cloud cover was coming at  the  ex-
pense  of crosswinds.  But since the window was rapidly coming to an end, I
guess the launch team had to be ready for a quick decision.

> Mostly, I'd just like the truth told.  
> Magellan is a mapper, not an atmosphere
> probe like one of the anchors mentioned.  
> The ET is *not* a motor, it's a tank,
> Mr. Jennings.

Maybe they should take their Macs  and  Hypercards  out  of  the  "Election
Night" studio, and set them up for launch.  I know I couldn't speak ex tem-
pore on the shuttle, follow Good Scout Ollie, riots in  Beijing,  elections
in Panama, continuing cleanup in Alaska (with celebrity visits), drought in
the midwest, ..., and sound cogent.  I have a  hard  enough  time  sounding
cogent on Usenet!

                                                David P. Schneider
                                                     BiiN (tm)
                                                    Monday, 5.8