AkaSci, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago)

Those are some dirty looking refurbished side boosters on the Falcon Heavy for the NASA Psyche mission.

These side boosters will be recovered and reused in the next mission.

Credit: NASA
#Psyche
2/n

oliver_schafeld, 8 months ago

🤓 Imagine some Nasa engineer would scrub "wash me" on the side… 😂🧽

AkaSci, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago)

Space programs have their own superstitions and rituals.

E.g., an Orthodox priest blesses the launch vehicle, astronauts and support personnel at every Soyuz launch.

At NASA, jars of peanuts are considered good luck charms for uncrewed landings on other worlds.

NASA is not fond of the number 13 - the ill-fated Apollo 13 had the "Houston, we've had a problem here" moment on April 13.

Friday the 13th for Psyche?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2822436/The-superstitions-space-travel-revealed-Fear-number-13-peeing-tyres-tapping-Snoopy-s-nose-bizarre-rituals.html
https://www.wired.com/2012/08/space-mission-superstitions/
Photo credit: NASA
#Psyche
3/n

jmbw, 8 months ago

@AkaSci
It's madness that an organisation based in science and engineering would even consider superstition.

Why would the support such a thing?

mangotable, 8 months ago

@AkaSci curious, @elizabethtasker does JAXA have any prelaunch good luck rituals / traditions?

AkaSci, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago)

Shuttle astronaut Robert Crippen in an interview in 2006 clarified why there was no STS-13 -

'I mentioned it was STS-41-C that originally it was STS-13, and my friend Jim [James M.] Beggs, who was the Administrator of NASA, had triskaidekaphobia, and he said, “There’s not going to be [another] Apollo 13 or a Shuttle 13, so come up with a new numbering system.” So we did come up with this complex system for numbering the Shuttles during that period of time.'

https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/CrippenRL/CrippenRL_5-26-06.htm
#Psyche
4/n

Ohsin, 8 months ago

@AkaSci ISRO is also wary of number 13. It is not a coincidence that launches with that serial (PSLV-C13, GSLV-F13) and satellite name (GSAT-13) were simply skipped over. Their countdowns are also initiated to avoid 'inauspicious' period.🙃

https://www.dnaindia.com/technology/report-superstitions-and-beliefs-of-indian-space-scientists-1915176

https://englisharchives.mathrubhumi.com/technology/science/science-1.3974736

https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/wtf/ready-for-countdown-isro-scientists-visit-temples-avoid-chandrayaan-ii-launch-in-rahu-kaal-371771.html

#Triskaidekaphobia #superstition #spaceflight