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Author
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Topic: Shuttle mission launch and scrub statistics
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mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 05-18-2007 06:00 PM
   
Does anyone have the statistics showing how many shuttle flights have launched during their first attempt vs. launched during their second or third or fourth (etc.) attempts? |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2915
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-18-2007 06:36 PM
There is a release that contains such info, however, NASA's Space Shuttle Mission Chronology outlines each shuttle launch attempts. If you can't find a copy of it (online as well), let me know and I could either mail you a copy, or if time permits, check my own notes/etc. for you. Many of the earlier shuttle missions from the 1980s were not on time, however, most of the Shuttle-Mir missions of the 90s and others were, overall, on time during their first launch attempts. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2915
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-19-2007 07:32 AM
Just for the fun of it, the following listed shuttle missions (we'll start with the early ones, first 25 from 1981-86, for now) that were not launched on time once NASA firmly had their launch dates set months in advance: - STS-1 (a timing skew delay of 2 days)
- STS-2 (nearly 1 month of delays)
- STS-3 (liftoff delayed 1 hr.)
- STS-6 (long 2+ months delay due to hydrogen leak at first)
- STS-8 (a 17-minute delay due to weather)
- STS-9 (28 day delay due to suspect exhaust nozzle on right SRB)
- STS-41B (launch delay while Challenger still in OPF to allow changeout of all 3 APUs)
- STS-41D (four delay problems within a 2 month period)
- STS-51A (1 day delay due to wind shears in upper atmosphere)
- STS-51C (1 day delay due to freezing weather conditions -- most interesting, huh!)
- STS-51E (was later canceled with the orbiter re-manifested with 51-B payloads; 51-B launch delayed 18 seconds due to a launch processing system failure)
- STS-51F (launch delayed just over 2 weeks when countdown was halted at T-3 seconds when #2 main engine colant valve shutdown)
- STS-51I (3 day delay due to in-area thunderstorms and a general purpose computer failure)
- STS-51J (launch delayed for almost 23 seconds because of a main engine LH2 prevalve close "on" indicator)
- STS-61C (delayed for almost a month due to a variety of concerns)
- STS-51L (6 day delay ---)
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Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 05-21-2007 12:42 PM
The problem with scrub stats is the launch windows. In my mind, if it goes on the first try that's enough to say on time. But the ISS and Mir flights, you have to realize, had/have just five or ten minute windows.So many of those launches that had 2.5 hour windows would not have gone under those circumstances.
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-07-2007 04:27 AM
From the Associated Press:  A database analysis by The Associated Press showed that 47 of the 118 previous space shuttle missions have taken off on their originally scheduled day. Technical glitches account for more than half the delays. (Endeavour was held back because of a leaky valve in the crew cabin.)Bad weather at Kennedy Space Center is to blame for about a third. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 08-26-2009 12:38 PM
How many launches have taken place at the originally planned date and time?Editor's note: Threads merged. |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1505
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 08-26-2009 12:45 PM
There are 3 things certain in life. Death. Taxes. Shuttle launch scrubs.  |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 08-26-2009 01:01 PM
I was perusing the NASA Press Book for the latest mission the other day, particularly the launch abort section. I was interested to find that they classified the several situations where the SSMEs started and then shut down as "Return To Launch Site" aborts. |
Tom
Member Posts: 1597
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 08-26-2009 03:37 PM
I believe they are called RSLS Aborts. |
webhamster
Member Posts: 106
From: Ottawa, Canada
Registered: Jul 2008
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posted 08-26-2009 09:58 PM
Yes, RSLS (Redundant Set Launch Sequencer) vs. RTLS (Return To Launch Site). The former has happened several times, the latter has never happened (thankfully). |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3120
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 08-27-2009 06:28 PM
My one and (so far) only shuttle launch was STS-117 and the statistics show only too clearly that I was fortunate that "my launch" was one of the 40% which made it off the pad on the first attempt. I realise that if I manage to get back to KSC for another launch, the odds favour a scrub. I distinctly remember a feeling creeping over me as the STS-117 countdown reached about T-3 minutes that Atlantis was definitely going to launch, and nothing was going to interfere with the experience. How right I was! |
astro-nut
Member Posts: 946
From: Washington, IL
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 10-28-2019 11:54 AM
Does Steve Hawley hold the record with the most launch scrubs? I believe he does with STS 41-D, STS 61-C, STS-31, and STS-93? I am referring to being suited up and actually strapped into the cockpit of the space shuttles. |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1587
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 10-29-2019 07:25 AM
That's a pretty bad on-time launch record, even though the weather scrubs were out of the agency's control. |
PowerCat
Member Posts: 193
From: Herington, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 10-29-2019 09:49 AM
In regards to Steve Hawley...here was a quote from an article at space.com regarding scrubs:Most likely to be sentback to crew quarters: Astronaut Steve Hawley. He endured 11 launch scrubs prior to his fivespace flights. |
astro-nut
Member Posts: 946
From: Washington, IL
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 11-04-2019 10:31 AM
Here is some more information from my personal notes about Space Shuttle launch scrubs (I am referring to when the astronauts leave crew quarters and boarding the Astrovan and strapping into the the shuttle orbiters). I am not including launch postponements and delays. - STS-1: Launch was scrubbed on April 10, 1981 at T-9 minutes due to General Purpose Computer(GPC) problem.
- STS-2: Launch was scrubbed on November 4, 1981 at T-31 seconds due to fuel cell problem and then APU oil pressure.
- STS-41D: Launch was scrubbed on June 25, 1984 at T-9 minutes due to backup GPC problem.
- STS-41D: Launch was Aborted on June 26, 1984 at T-4 seconds due to main engine #3 problem.
- STS-51A: Launch was scrubbed on November 7, 1984 at T-20 minutes due to high wind shears in upper atmosphere.
- STS-51F: Launch was aborted on July 12, 1985 at T-3 seconds due to main engine #2 problem.
- STS-51I: Launch was scrubbed on August 24, 1985 at T-5 minutes due to bad weather.
- STS-51I: Launch was scrubbed on August 25, 1985 at T-9 minutes due to GPC #5 problem.
- STS-61C: Launch was scrubbed on December 19, 1985 at T-14 seconds due to SRB problem.
- STS-61C: Launch was scrubbed on January 6, 1986 at T-31 seconds due to low temperature reading in an engine line (accidental draining of 14,0000 pounds of liquid oxygen from External Tank (ET); had launch occurred a Return to Launch Site (RTLS) abort would of been performed by crew).
- STS-61C: Launch was scrubbed on January 7, 1986 at T-9 minutes due to bad weather at Trans-Atlantic Landing Site(TAL).
- STS-61C: Launch was scrubbed on January 10, 1986 at T-9 minutes due to bad weather at KSC.
- STS-51L: Launch was scrubbed on January 27, 1986 at T-9 minutes due to a problem with the Shuttle's hatch and then crosswinds at KSC.
- STS-27: Launch was scrubbed on December 1, 1988 at T-9 minutes due to cloud cover and wind conditions at KSC.
- STS-30: Launch was scrubbed on April 28, 1989 at T-31 seconds due to main engine #1 problem and with connections between the shuttle and External Tank(ET).
- STS-34: Launch was scrubbed on October 17, 1989 at T-5 minutes due to weather conditions at Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at KSC.
- STS-32: Launch was scrubbed on January 8, 1990 at T-5 minutes due to bad weather at KSC.
- STS-36: Launch was scrubbed on February 25, 1990 at T-31 seconds due to Range Safety Operation (RSO) computer problem.
- STS-36: Launch was scrubbed on February 26, 1990 due to weather conditions.
- STS-31: Launch was scrubbed on April 10, 1990 at T-4 minutes due to faulty valve in APU #1.
- STS-40: Launch was scrubbed on June 6, 1991 due to Instrument Measuring Unit (IMU) #2 failure.
- STS-43: Launch was scrubbed on August 1, 1991 due to cabin vent pressure and unacceptable weather.
- STS-50: Launch was scrubbed on June 24, 1992 due to bad weather.
- STS-55: Launch was aborted at T-3 seconds on March 22, 1993 due to main engine #3 problem.
- STS-56: Launch was scrubbed on April 6, 1993 at T-11 seconds due to a problem with a liquid hydrogen valve.
- STS-57: Launch was scrubbed on June 20, 1993 at T-5 minutes due to bad weather at the SLF at KSC and the TAL sites.
- STS-51: Launch was scrubbed on July 17, 1993 at T-20 minutes due to transistor problem on the launch pad.
- STS-51: Launch was scrubbed on July 24, 1993 at T-19 seconds due to SRB Hydraulic Power Unit not activating.
- STS-51: Launch was aborted on August 12, 1993 at T-3 seconds due to main engine #2 problem.
- STS-58: Launch was scrubbed on Ocotber 14, 1993 at T-31 seconds due to RSO computer problem.
- STS-58: Launch was scrubbed on October 15, 1993 at T-9 minutes due to a bad S-Band transponder.
- STS-61: Launch was scrubbed on December 1, 1993 at T-5 minutes due to bad winds at KSC.
- STS-59: Launch was scrubbed on April 8, 1994 at T-9 minutes due to bad weather and winds at SLF at KSC.
- STS-68: Launch was aborted at T-1.9 seconds on August 18, 1994 due to main engine #3 problem.
- STS-71: Launch was scrubbed on June 24, 1995 at T-9 minutes due to rainstorms and lightening at KSC.
- STS-73: Launch was scrubbed on October 7, 1995 at T-20 minutes due to Master Event Controller (MEC) #1 failure to operate.
- STS-73: Launch was scrubbed on October 15, 1995 at T-5 minutes due to bad weather at KSC.
- STS-74: Launch was scrubbed on November 11, 1995 at T-5 minutes due to bad weather at the TAL sites.
- STS-88: Launch was scrubbed on December 3, 1998 at T-31 seconds due to hydraulic system malfunction with the shuttle.
- STS-93: Launch was scrubbed on July 20, 1999 at T-7 seconds due to high concentration of hydrogen in shuttle's aft engine compartment.
- STS-93: Launch was scrubbed on July 22, 1999 at T-5 minutes due to bad weather and lightening.
- STS-103: Launch was scrubbed on December 17, 1999 at T-9 minutes due to bad weather.
- STS-101: Launch was scrubbed on April 24, 2000 at T-9 minutes due to crosswinds at SLF at KSC.
- STS-101: Launch was scrubbed on April 25, 2000 at T-38 minutes due to high winds at the launch pad and SLF.
- STS-101: launch was scrubbed on April 26, 2000 at T-9 minutes due to bad weather at the TAL sites.
- STS-92: launch was scrubbed on October 10, 2001 at T-20 minutes due to a pin that was lodged on a strut connecting the shuttle and ET.
- STS-105: Launch was scrubbed on August 9, 2001 at T-5 minutes due to unacceptable weather at KSC.
- STS-108: Launch was scrubbed on December 4, 2001 at T-5 minutes due to unacceptable weather at KSC.
- STS-111: Launch was scrubbed on May 29, 2002 at T-9 minutes due to weather concerns at KSC.
- STS-113: Launch was scrubbed on November 22, 2002 at T-9 minutes due to bad weather at the TAL sites.
- STS-114: Launch was scrubbed on July 13, 2005 while the astronauts were being strapped into the Shuttle Discovery, due to the ET fuel sensor failure.
- STS-121: Launch was scrubbed on July 1, 2006 at T-9 minutes due to unacceptable weather at KSC.
- STS-121: Launch was scrubbed on July 2, 2006 at T-9 minutes due to unacceptable weather at KSC.
- STS-115: Launch was scrubbed on September 8, 2006 at T-9 minutes due to a faulty low level hydrogen fuel sensor in the ET.
- STS-116: Launch was scrubbed on December 7, 2006 at T-5 minutes due to unacceptable weather.
- STS-127: Launch was scrubbed on July 12, 2009 at T-9 minutes due to clouds and lightening at KSC.
- STS-127: Launch was scrubbed on July 13, 2009 at T-9 minutes due to unacceptable weather at KSC.
- STS-128: Launch was scrubbed on August 25, 2009 at T-9 minutes due to unacceptable weather at KSC.
- STS-130: Launch was scrubbed on February 7, 2010 at T-9 minutes due to unacceptable weather at SLF at KSC.
- STS-134: During the STS-134 countdown on April 29, 2011 when the astronauts were in the Astrovan enroute to the launch pad, the Astrovan stopped and paused at the Launch Control Center, while waiting for words from Launch Director Mike Leinbach to proceed or scrub for the day? After scrubbing for the day, the Astrovan turned around and took the astronaut crew back to crew quarters.
These lists are from my notebooks on shuttle missions and from all my video/dvd's of the launch coverages. I hope this list will be helpful to all collectSPACE members! | |
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