NASACAR???

Not a half hour after I bragged about wanting to watch the space shuttle Discovery launch tomorrow I found this story about a “cockpit window” cover falling off and damaging some of the heat resistant tiles.

OK, I can’t resist poking a little fun here, although I guarantee you that I wish only the best for the mission tomorrow.

My comedian idol and fellow Georgia Tech Alumni, Jeff Foxworthy, has a series of jokes he does about NASA—one of them involving my home state of ALABAMA.

Talking about Huntsville, Alabama, Jeff says “they might be building them (the rockets) there, but they ain’t letting people from there (Alabama) fly them."

I think that I’d be offended if I didn’t know that Jeff honestly thought that he knew what he was talking about. I can just see my old friend Gerrald Wynn saying "Hey Houston...it's dark as crap up here..."

The news article says:

“NASA was dealt a setback when a window cover fell off shuttle Discovery and damaged thermal tiles near the tail. But the space agency quickly fixed the problem and said it was still on track for launch Wednesday.

A lightweight plastic cover on one of Discovery's cockpit windows came loose while the spaceship was on the launch pad, falling more than 60 feet and striking a bulge in the fuselage, said Stephanie Stilson, the NASA manager in charge of Discovery's launch preparations.

No one knows why the cover -- held in place with tape and weighing less than 2 pounds -- fell off, she said. The covers are used prior to launch to protect the shuttle's windows, then removed before liftoff.

Two tiles on an aluminum panel were damaged, and the entire panel was replaced with a spare in what Stilson said was a minor repair job.”

See, the story proves that at least part the shuttle was designed in Alabama, probably by some NASCAR fans, because there is duct tape involved--and there's probably some Bondo in the repair job when all things were said and done.

Come to think of it, I believe that NASA and NASCAR should be merged. Think about it with me for a minute.

First, it would save a whole bunch of tax dollars. Imagine shuttles and other future rockets sponsored by Chevy and Dodge, painted with the logos for Nextel, Viagra, Home Depot, Lowes, and M&M's.

Instead of the mission control announcer saying "5,4,3,2,1, liftoff"...it could be Toby Keith saying "Gentlemen...start your engines."

Or instead of letting some nerd push a button to launch the rocket, some chick with fake boobs wearing a tight skirt could wave a green flag and some old astronauts could yell "boogity, boogity, boogity" as the plume of fire and smoke rises off the launch pad.

It would also give a whole new meaning to the term...

SPACE RACE.