Cancelled Space Shuttle missions

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.

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. [cite news | url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/1282596.html?page=4 |work=Popular Mechanics |title=Astronauts in Danger| first=Stefano |last=Coledan|date=December 2000] The mission was cancelled when astronauts refused to fly it, having deemed the mission to be too dangerous.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TS-51-E

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

Crew:
* Karol J. Bobko
* Donald E. Williams
* M. Rhea Seddon
* S. David Griggs
* Jeffrey A. Hoffman
* Patrick Baudry
* Jake Garn

TS-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:

*Jon McBride
*Richard N. Richards
*David Leestma
*Jeffrey A. Hoffman
*Robert A. Parker
*Samuel T. Durrance
*Ronald A. Parise

TS-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:

*Frederick H. Hauck
*Roy D. Bridges, Jr.
*John M. Lounge
*David C. Hilmers

TS-61-G

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

*David M. Walker
*Ronald J. Grabe
*Norman E. Thagard
*James D. A. van Hoften

TS-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:

*Michael Coats
*John Blaha
*Anna Fisher
*James Buchli
*Robert Springer
*Nigel Wood
*Pratiwi Sudarmono

TS-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:

*Vance D. Brand
*S. David Griggs
*Robert L. Stewart
*Owen K. Garriott
*Claude Nicollier
*Byron K. Lichtenberg
*Michael L. Lampton
*Robert E. Stevenson

TS-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".

TS-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:
* Loren Shriver
* Bryan O'Connor
* Mark C. Lee
* Sally Ride
* William Fisher
* Robert Wood

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.

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".

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

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.

TS-144

STS-144 was a mission to retrieve the Hubble Space Telescope and return it to Earth, for possible display in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The mission was cancelled after the "Columbia" disaster, and would have been flown by "Columbia". Currently, NASA has plans to fly the STS-125 mission to the telescope, with the emphasis in carrying a target assembly to allow for a safe de-orbit and atmospheric breakup over the Pacific Ocean in a manner used in the de-orbiting of the Mir space station in 2000.

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