You're right - we should get the facts straight. Here are the complete facts:<br /><br />"During wind tunnel tests earlier this week, NASA subjected a full-scale mockup of a shuttle external tank section to aerodynamic forces greater than a real tank would experience during launch. In one series of tests, unmodified foam insulation used to prevent ice buildups around external fittings suffered only minor damage while a redesigned "ice/frost ramp" suffered major foam loss. <br /><br />The redesign is being considered in a bid to remove as much insulation as possible from the tank to minimize the threat of debris shedding during launch. The old ice/frost ramps, which insulate the fittings used to hold two pressurization lines and an electrical cable tray in place, featured long, sloping ramps to smooth the flow of air. <br /><br />But those very ramps, it was believed, were susceptible to cracks and failure, providing a potential source of debris that could strike a shuttle during launch. The redesigned ramps are much more blunt. But in initial wind tunnel tests at the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma, Tenn., the old design fared better than the redesign. During two sets of test runs this week, the new design suffered major foam loss. <br /><br />"That's exactly what testing is all about," said one official. "This is where you want to find a problem, not on launch day." <br /><br />More tests are planned and other design changes are under consideration, along with the option of flying the ramps "as is." But a decision on how to proceed is needed by the end of the month to give engineers time to make any required changes before NASA's planned July launch of the shuttle Discovery on the second post-Columbia mission."<br /><br />OK, these modifications have not been performed on the ET. But, 2 1/2 months before launch, NASA does not have a design it's happy with. This concernes me.