ALL SCI-FI

[Gord Green]

NASA will later today admit to an embarrassing paperwork error in the 1990s that led the agency to fly two of its space shuttle orbiters with the wrong names for almost two decades. The news that space shuttle Atlantis is actually space shuttle Endeavour and the shuttle thought to be Endeavour is really Atlantis will be disclosed by NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden at a hastily called press conference.

The error occurred in the 1990s when the then NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin reintroduced the space agency's 1960s-era "meatball" logo and ordered the shuttle fleet to be repainted.

According to the preliminary findings of an investigation by the NASA Inspector General, the wrong work orders were sent to the Kennedy Space Center's Orbiter Processing Facility. Technicians followed the instructions to the letter, painting the new logo and the name Endeavour on Atlantis. In the neighboring hangar, Endeavour was repainted with the title Atlantis.

NASA officials appeared shaken by the gravity of the error. "It was a foolish mistake and one that will not be repeated in the Orion era," a tearful Bolden told lawmakers at a closed door briefing on Capitol Hill late last week. He said the error had surfaced during a recent audit of government surplus equipment.

NASA spokesman George Navias was quick to stress that the mix-up never put shuttle crew safety at risk and deferred all further questions until after the news conference.

Curators at museums in Florida and California, were reeling after NASA officials briefed them on the mistake. At the Kennedy Space Center, where the shuttle formerly known as Atlantis went on display last year, visitor center employees were counting the cost of the mistake.

"Our branding has been thrown into utter disarray," said a gift shop manager who asked not to be named. "Our attraction is prominently named Space Shuttle Atlantis. If nothing is done we'll need to remake thousands of t-shirts, mugs and keychains."
At the California Science Center in Los Angeles, where the shuttle originally thought to be Endeavour is now housed, museum directors are insisting they get the orbiter they were promised.

In a move reminiscent of the "failure is not option" attitude that saved the crew of Apollo 13, NASA is expected to unveil a multi-million dollar plan to put things right.

In Houston, the Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft was being disassembled to be transported to a museum itself, but now the space agency has ordered engineers to put the aircraft back together so it can fly the misnamed shuttles to their rightful homes. The goal is to complete the operation before next April 1.

[Bud Brewster]

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I was all set to post this —
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I don't know which is funnier: the fact that the misnamed shuttles were flown for years before the error was discovered, or that fact that the 747 being dissembled is being reassembled so they can actually switch the shuttles and save the museum's gift shop the trouble changing all the T-shirts and coffee mugs!
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— until my eagle-eyed friend Bulldogtreker told me to look closer at the title . . . specifically the small text right under the title of the article that started all this.





NASA officials to disclose
space shuttle orbiter mix-up
APRIL FOOL BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: April 1, 2014
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

You got me!

APRIL FOOLS !!

[Bud Brewster]

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Actually you got me!

Bulldogtrekker spotted it right away, but it took me a full minute to finally see the "April Fools" below the title, even though he kept urging me to look closer!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

Aw, c'mon, people. It's a cute piece, but I knew from the first paragraph that it was an April Fool's joke!

[Bud Brewster]

[Gord Green]

April Fools jokes are what they are. I planted 2 more fairly obvious April Fools jokes on the board that no-one has noticed or commented on as yet. Have YOU found them?

[Bud Brewster]

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Yes, Gord, we all enjoyed the two April Fools' post on the 2001 thread. I thought at first that one of them was a repeat of the post you did on that thread last year for April Fools' Day, but I quickly realized they're both new.

I guess the reason no one has replied is because they're the kind of posts the members read, enjoy, and then move on.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)