Fox News Channel was first cable news net with the breaking newstout of NASA in Houston on Friday. Shep Smith broke the news at 3:23pm. CNN and MSNBC followed at 3:27pm.

"Shep Smith is kicking ass and taking names on the Houston story right now. This is a guy that's literally made for breaking news," an e-mailer said a few minutes later.

Over on CNN, "space correspondent" Miles O'Brien got a lot of air time as he called into The Situation Room...