If you want to find an example of extended mismanagement, the SkyLab Project is close to perfection. Chicken Little, indeed.
The Skylab 79-ton satellite was launched in 1973. Those were the days of Richard Nixon and High Watergate. Spin was becoming a national obsession.
Obama's team is doing Swine Flu exactly the opposite to this mess.
NASA gave Nixon their best. Skylab was placed in a very low orbit to maximize photo quality. Getting pretty pictures of Earth was all that mattered. Reentry was not considered. No risk assessment.
Changing a Federal Blunder in One Day
Back then, in 1979, when reentry became inevitable, NASA planned to ignore the event apart from a 2-hour warning bulletin. For how Chicken Little techies and the Carter team stopped this blunder... Below The Fold:::