Cancelled Space Shuttle missions

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During the Space Shuttle program, a number of missions were cancelled. Most were cancelled as a result of the Challenger and Columbia disasters. However, some were also cancelled due to changes in payload requirements.

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[edit] STS-1a

STS-1 was originally intended to be a sub-orbital test of the Space Shuttle system, using the RTLS flight profile devised for emergency abort scenarios.[1] The mission was cancelled when astronauts refused to fly it, having deemed the mission to be too dangerous.

[edit] STS-2a

The mission that was originally designated STS-2 would have visited the Skylab space station, and boosted it into a higher orbit. The flight was cancelled due to delays with the Shuttle program, and Skylab re-entering sooner than was expected. The designation was later reused. The crew selected were Fred Haise and Jack Lousma. It would have launched in late 1979, using the Space Shuttle Columbia. Lousma would later command the STS-3 mission in early 1982.

[edit] STS-10

STS-10 was cancelled due to delays with the payload, which was a DOD satellite. Ken Mattingly, Loren Shriver, Ellison Onizuka, James Buchli and Gary Payton had been named as the crew. Launch was scheduled for November 1983.

[edit] STS-12

STS-12, a mission to deploy a TDRS satellite, was cancelled due to problems with the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) that was to be used in the mission. Henry Hartsfield, Michael Coats, Richard Mullane, Steven Hawley and Judith Resnik had been named as crew. Launch was scheduled for March 1984.

[edit] STS-41-E

STS-41-E, a mission to deploy a DOD satellite, was cancelled due to problems with the IUS upper stage that was to be used in the mission. Ken Mattingly, Loren Shriver, Ellison Onizuka, Jim Buchli and Jeffrey Detroye had been named as crew. Launch was scheduled for March 1984. Challenger was to have flown this mission.

[edit] STS-41-F

STS-41-F was to have flown in August 1984 using Discovery. This would have been the first flight of Discovery, had the mission not been cancelled due to payload delays. STS-41-D would eventually become Discovery's first flight.

[edit] STS-51-E

The shuttle was to have been Challenger and was cancelled due to IUS failure. It was a planned TDRS deployment mission.

Crew:

[edit] STS-61-E

This mission would have used Columbia and the object of the mission was to launch the ASTRO-1 satellite. It was cancelled after the Challenger disaster. The crew was to have been:

[edit] STS-61-F

STS-61F was planned to launch in May 1986 from Cape Canaveral, was planned to deploy the Ulysses solar polar orbiter using Challenger. The crew was to have been:

[edit] STS-61-G

STS-61-G was planned for launch in June of 1986 Using Atlantis. But was cancelled after Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. The scheduled crew was to have been:

[edit] STS-61-H

Main article: STS-61-H

This was to be a mission planned to launch in 1986 using Columbia, however, it was cancelled after the Challenger disaster. The flight was scheduled to take place June 24 through July 1. The crew was to have been:

[edit] STS-61-K

STS-61-K was a planned (but cancelled after Space Shuttle Challenger disaster) EOM Space Shuttle mission using Columbia. The crew was to have been:

[edit] STS-61-L

This was a planned (and cancelled) shuttle mission for deployment of commercial communications satellites. Would have launched the first American journalist in space from Launch Complex 39B. Cancelled after Challenger disaster. The shuttle used would have been Atlantis.

[edit] STS-61-M

Main article: STS-61-M

This was to be a mission planned for July 1986 but cancelled following the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (STS-51-L). The Space Shuttle that would have been used was Challenger. Payload was to have been one of the TDRS satellites. Crew was to have been:

[edit] STS-62-A

Main article: STS-62-A

STS-62-A was to have been the first shuttle mission flown from the ill-fated Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Robert Crippen would have commanded Discovery on the first polar orbit shuttle mission for the DOD. The flight was cancelled when the DOD pulled out of the shuttle program after the Challenger accident.

[edit] STS-71-B

This mission was to launch in December 1986. The mission was cancelled after the Challenger disaster. The mission would have carried Payload Specialist Charles Edward Jones, who would later die on Flight 11 when it was crashed into the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 attacks. The shuttle used would have been Challenger.

[edit] STS-81-M

Launch of STS-81-M was planned for July 1988 using Atlantis. It was cancelled due to the Challenger accident. The only assigned crewmember was Payload Specialist Millie Hughes-Fulford

[edit] STS-82-B

Mission STS-82-B was planned for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1988 using Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission was cancelled as a result of the Challenger disaster. Among other tasks, the mission included the deployment of the Cosmic Background Explorer observatory, later launched on a Delta rocket in 1989.

[edit] STS-144

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Main article: STS-144

STS-144 was a mission to retrieve the Hubble Space Telescope and return it to Earth. The mission was cancelled after the Columbia disaster. The mission was originally to have been flown by Columbia.

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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Coledan, Stefano. "Astronauts in Danger", Popular Mechanics, December 2000. 
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