"ISS Computer Damaged On Purpose, NASA Says"

Well, this is a little weird.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A space program worker deliberately damaged a computer that is supposed to fly aboard shuttle Endeavour in less than two weeks, an act of sabotage that was caught before the equipment was loaded onto the spaceship, NASA said Thursday.

The unidentified employee, who works for a NASA subcontractor, cut wires inside the computer that is supposed to be delivered to the international space station by Endeavour, said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief.

They say that the damaged computer "would have posed no danger". Nevertheless, it seems pretty mean-spirited at the least -- and I might even argue evil -- to tamper with such equipment. A stay in space is not a stay at a motel. If something goes wrong, people could die, and sabotaging a space station computer is an egregious transgression.