] In all of the years of my involvement, I have never been
] as concerned for Space Shuttle safety as I am right now.
] That concern is not for the present flight or the next or
] perhaps the one after that. In fact, one of the roots of
] my concern is that nobody will know for sure when the
] safety margin has been eroded too far. All of my
] instincts, however, suggest that the current approach is
] planting the seeds for future danger.

This presentation was given to Congress by the former chair of the Aerospace Saftey Advisory Panel in April. Apparently NASA can't afford the right sort of safety improvements and upgrades.

Space Shuttle: It gets political...