Breaking news from CNN.com, confirmed a few minutes ago by a special report from CBS Radio News:
NASA has "grounded" [see second edit, below -- Ed.] the Shuttle fleet because of concerns that the separation of foam insulation from the Shuttle's external fuel tank, which was seen in yesterday's launch of Discovery, may reoccur in future launches.
The Discovery itself was not affected by the debris. Future missions, however, will not be launched before NASA addresses the issue.
There is no word on whether this means that the Atlantis, which stands ready to launch within weeks as a rescue vehicle for the crew of the Discovery, is barred from that mission even if its services are required.
[EDIT] 7:43 p.m. It appears that STS-300 is still being processed. Source: NASA-TV press conference.
[EDIT] 8:05 a.m. July 28, 2005: During a live post-MMT briefing, a NASA official said that the term "ground" was not used. He did said that the Shuttle will not fly until the PAL ramp is fixed.
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