Originally Posted by
WHBM
Or, putting it another way, yet again designed down to a budget.
Not that NASA doesn't have form on such, either. John Glenn, when asked what it felt like sat ready to be shot up on the pioneer Mercury mission 60 years ago, famously said "It's thinking you're sat on top of 2 million components, all bought from the bottom bidder".
I remember reading at the time that this was mandated by US federal law -- as part of a general attempt at reducing the corrupt distribution of government money in return for backhanders.