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26/07/2005: "Liftoff for Discovery!"

Ever since that fateful Saturday, 1 February, 2003, as news broke through of Columbia's break-up on re-entry, I have missed the hours spent living with live mission coverage unfolding in the background of my computer screen. The excitement of somehow being part of every mission by watching construction progress on the ISS never waned. I have always felt the vulnerability that the astronauts are exposed to everytime they break through the confines of Earth's surface. From launch to landing, they rely on a complex chain of a collaborative work by the brightest engineers and most skilled suppliers in the world. But despite their best efforts, things can fail. Now the shuttle is back up and I shall be watching it fly above our heads and on the web during spacewalks. Awesome!