If NASA Needs Northcom...

NASA has delayed the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis for at least another day due to a glitch in the spacecraft's electrical power system. If anything happens to go wrong with the launch when it eventually occurs, the folks at the Defense Department's Northern Command report that they're ready to step in with both DoD and Homeland Security assets, including the following:

• 20 U.S. Air Force/Air National Guard Pararescue personnel (308th Rescue Squadron, Moody Air Force Base, Ga.; 103rd Rescue Squadron, Gabreski, N.Y.)
• 4 HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters (301st Rescue Squadron, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.)
• 1 U.S. Air Force Reserve/Air National Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft (39th Rescue Squadron [Air Force Reserve Command], Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.; and 1 Air National Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft (102nd Rescue Squadron, Francis S. Gabreski Airport, N.Y.)
• 1 KC-130 Hercules (Marine Corps Air Group 49, Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y.)
• 6 Army HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters (Fort Irwin, Calif.)
• 5 Air Force UH-1 Huey and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters (White Sands Missile Range, N.M.)