# NASA defies superstition **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 13, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324 "2005-07-13T12:44:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/1 "2005-07-13T12:44:32Z")
Space shuttle Discovery set to launch July 13th for a 13 day mission. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/2 "2005-07-13T12:50:07Z")
Today is the very first day that their launch window opens to ISS. They only have a 5-minute launch window today. That means if _anything_ goes wrong, they’ll have to wait to try again tomorrow. They have until July 31 to get 'er off the ground, and they aren’t going to waste a single launch opportunity, even for triskaidekaphobia. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/3 "2005-07-13T12:54:27Z")
NASA have foreseen the problems with this date and, after discussion amongst their engineers, have successful neutralised them by nailing horseshoes to the shuttle’s exterior and erecting the launch pad on a bed of four leafed clovers. The simple application of scientific know-how beats superstition any day. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/4 "2005-07-13T12:56:55Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > Space shuttle Discovery set to launch July 13th for a 13 day mission. 😕 Friday is the 15th. And it’s my birthday, email me for information on where to send presents. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/5 "2005-07-13T14:02:35Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > Space shuttle Discovery set to launch July 13th for a 13 day mission. 😕 You realize these guys are _scientists_, right? –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/6 "2005-07-13T14:28:00Z")
Once, back in the '80s, the wife of a friend, who counted herself a witch, warned me not to fly on a certain day. I did, and for good measure I made 13 touch-and-goes. 😛 IIRC, in some cultures the number 13 is a number of power. It’s also the seventh prime number, prime numbers having a certain mystique and the number 7 supposedly being fortuitous. And the number of the month is 7, so there are two ‘Lucky Sevens’ involved. And the digits of 13 add up to 4, which is 2 times 2, 2 being a prime number and thus mystic. Oh, and 13+07+05=25. 25 is the square (a special number) of a prime number. And if you add the Century, you get 27. That’s a prime raised to the power of itself. The numbers look good. Just let me check my goat entrails… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/7 "2005-07-13T14:49:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Once, back in the '80s, the wife of a friend, who counted herself a witch, warned me not to fly on a certain day. I did, and for good measure I made 13 touch-and-goes. Yeah, but she meant don’t fly on your broom. Motorized aircraft don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/8 "2005-07-13T16:23:58Z")
As long as it’s not the last week of January/1st week of February it should be lucky enough. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/9 "2005-07-13T17:49:39Z")
We’re watching NASA TV here. Seems the launch is scrubbed. Malfunction of a fuel sensor. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/10 "2005-07-13T17:52:30Z")
They have to drain the fuel tanks, so I don’t think it will be tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![zega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@zega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zega)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/11 "2005-07-13T18:27:58Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > As long as it’s not the last week of January/1st week of February it should be lucky enough. That’s exactly what I was going to say. 27 January 1967 - Apollo 1 fire 28 January 1986 - Challenger explosion 1 February 2003 - Columbia explosion These three days account for all astronauts killed on missions related to space. All the other cases were plane crashes, and one car crash. [(Link)](http://www.airsafe.com/events/space/astrofat.htm) 13 should be a lucky number for the US, given the whole 13 states thing… but I don’t think that has really gained acceptance among the supersitious crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/12 "2005-07-13T18:38:33Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > We’re watching NASA TV here. Seems the launch is scrubbed. Malfunction of a fuel sensor. **ccwaterback** : 1 **wise ass posters who believe in “science”** : 0 ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/13 "2005-07-13T18:41:08Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Today is the very first day that their launch window opens to ISS. They only have a 5-minute launch window today. That means if _anything_ goes wrong, they’ll have to wait to try again tomorrow. They have until July 31 to get 'er off the ground, and they aren’t going to waste a single launch opportunity, even for triskaidekaphobia. 🙂 Fear of Triscuit crackers? what does _that_ have to do with anything… could be worse, could be Luposlipophobia or Antidieaphobia… ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-defies-superstition/312324/14 "2005-07-13T19:10:39Z")
I’m pretty sure **MacTech** is joking, but . . . hell, it’s a good word, with an even better etymology: From the Greek, _treis_, three + _kai_, and + _deka_, ten + _phobia_, fear.