posted 09-29-2024 12:00 PM               

Space Cover 773: Halted launches

Maybe all collectors are obsessives in some way. I am not an exception.

Please, click SCOTW 451 and SCOTW 668 to read and see some scrubbed launches and postponed launches respectively.

And now, another term: halted launches.

Above shown a cover postmarked twice at KSC with dates Jul 24 and Aug 12, 1993 with same result: launch halted. Both dates belong to STS-51 mission which was finally launched from KSC on Sep 12, 1993.

However, it was not the first time that STS-51 mission was halted because on Jul 17, 1993 a first attempt to launch was not successfully. Anyone has a cover with this date? Thanks in advance to shown here.

Again, a terminology question: If before countdown begins, a launch is delayed or postponed, and after countdown begins, a launch is scrubbed, where would you place a launch halted?

Please, if you know other terms used in launch phase with reference to stop a launch, be so kind to post here and preferably if these terms appear in space covers. Thanks.

posted 09-29-2024 01:03 PM               

A postponement is when a delay extends to the point whereby the countdown has to be rolled backwards such that when the countdown resumes it is at an earlier time than when the delay occurred. The majority of postponements are weather orientated, although a significant minority are resolved technical issues.

A scrub is when the countdown is abandoned entirely and a new launch needs to be scheduled from scratch. Cancelled, aborted and halted are terms entirely synonymous with scrubbed.
Some scubbed/halted launches become scrubbed missions, but most are just rescheduled as the same mission.

(Failed, abandoned and destroyed launches are launches that have reached the end of countdown and have taken place but the mission is not accomplished for whatever reason. These are legion and there are many covers that celebrate them, but they lie outside of your definition as they are not "launches that have been stopped").

posted 09-30-2024 06:24 AM               

The Saturn-Apollo stack was initially rolled out on 13th December 1971 for a scheduled launch on 17th March 1972. A few problems arose and the mission was rescheduled for the next launch window after the original planned window, and so the stack was rolled back to the VAB on 27th January 1972. Apollo 16 was rolled out for a second time on 9th February for the successful launch on 16th April 1972.

The roll-out and roll-back wasn't considered a launch scrub or halt, nor even a postponement, as the official mission countdown hadn't commenced. It was just a delay. The mission countdown finally commenced on Monday 10th April 1972 at 8:30am EST.