The Bearded Mission

Last month, Wired reported what a space shuttle needs to do before the launch gets approved.  The best part of the article is not the massive checklist before a shuttle can breach the atmosphere, but rather that the approval process rests in the hands of The Greybeards.  Yes, it seems that NASA has a staff of their very own Gandalfs.

From Steven Leckart's article:
The Kennedy Space Center chief processing engineer’s team of senior staff members (called greybeards) signals that they’re standing by to help if needed. Should any issues arise, they work in conjunction with various officers, including the chief shuttle project engineer, to perform any troubleshooting.

So rest easy America, the beards are protecting space!!