I was disappointed that it got scrubbed, but mission rules are mission rules, and those that fail to follow them…
I’d be kind of curious, though, which would take a lightning strike better. Apollo-Saturn or modern rockets? I somehow expect the former, though both likely have a lot of randomization to them. And of course, this is more a hypothetical question than one worth finding out for real!
Paul is correct. No one will remember the times you followed the rules and didn’t launch, but they will certainly remember the time you launched when you shouldn’t have and bad things resulted. NASA has tremendous pressure placed on it by the news media and the public to launch as scheduled, so scrubbing a launch is always a tough call - especially on days like Wednesday when the weather didn’t look that bad, but could have been. The interesting thing was that all the tourist observers interviewed after the scrub had the attitude of “well, we hoped we would see it, but better safe than sorry. Better luck next time.” Good job NASA & SpaceX.
Perfectly said and a reminder to follow your own rules. They are there for a reason.
… and the Saturday launch of the Dragon was indeed quite successful. Thank you very much!
“They only remember when you launched when you shouldn’t have and something bad happened.”
How true.
The same holds true when making the go/no-go decision about flying one’s own plane.
Unfortunately, there’s seldom a reward for cancelling a flight. In fact, there are often negatives - a missed event, the expense of an extra night in a hotel, the inconvenience of driving instead of flying. Which is why “get-home-itis” is such a powerful lure. The pleasant reward of “making it” by ducking a little lower or stretching a little farther is more appealing than the boring result of landing early, or waiting until later. It’s hard to get the primal brain to listen to the logic of safety. Experience usually (but not always) gets through with the lesson, but often at a very high price.