The media needs to learn the basics of science and technology a little. I've seen some of their coverage of the space shuttle and they got it all wrong. They sometimes get the facts right, but not the cause and effect.

For example, the facts are that one of the sensors failed, but that there are 2 backups, and the mission is almost over anyway, and so this has no affect on anything. Also, there is a bad weather forcast on the scheduled landing day, so they decide to land a day early. The press will say something like, "After one of the sensors failed, mission engineers opted to bring the orbiter down 24 hours early." Well, yes, there is nothing incorrect about that sentence, but there is a strongly implied cause and effect that is false.

In a different article found on the CNN web page, it said, "Experts examined hatches on other shuttles to try to find similar problems, and ground engineers dismantled hatches and gear cranks to figure out how they could jam. And the astronauts aboard Columbia videotaped the stuck hatch and sent the tape back to Earth for study." What?!?! They sent the tape back to earth? What, did they go to the local orbiting post office and FedEx it? They didn't send any tape. They sent electronic data. Maybe they emailed it. Whatever they did, there was no tape sent, only data sent. Why can't they get things straight?