NASA miscalculations

Ok, this does not really restore my faith in rocket scientists…

Picture by AP

There is obviously more to the story here, than just a ship hitting a bridge; come on look at the thing, who the hell thought that would fit under the that bridge. Maybe they were not ballasted enough, but even that, must be a nerve racking tight fit. More pictures here.

The Delta Mariner carries rocket components for Boeing, used for NASA and the US Air Force, among others. Below is an official comment by the rocket scientist about the crash…

The Delta Mariner, owned and operated by Foss
Marine, made contact with the Eggner Ferry Bridge at U.S. Highway 68
and Kentucky Highway 80 over the Tennessee River Thursday evening, Jan.
26 at 8:15 p.m. Central Time resulting in a portion of the bridge
collapsing.

The 312-foot vessel was carrying vehicle
components for an upcoming United Launch Alliance launch from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

There are no injuries on the Mariner or the bridge.

Initial inspections have shown that the flight hardware being transported was not damaged. 

The Coast Guard is conducting an investigation.

The Delta Mariner was commissioned in 2002 to
transport flight hardware from the United Launch Alliance factory in
Decatur, Ala., to launch sites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,
Fla., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The Delta Mariner is owned and operated by Foss Maritime, based in Seattle.  The US flagged, ABS classed ship was built in 1999 by Halter Marine. It has installed propulsive power consisting of EMDs, delivering 8000 hp.

More pictures of the 8679 GT ship and its cargo here. Here is a the news story from Huffington Post. Foss seems to have quickly taken down their webpage on the ship, but you can find the cache page here.

From Glosten & Associates