Pre-Launch Superstitions – Some Will Surprise You!

We tend to think of astronauts, cosmonauts, and ground support engineers as rational, no-nonsense, data-driven professionals.  And that’s true to a great extent. However, over the years a number of pre-launch superstitions, traditions, and practices have evolved.

The First Person In Space

It was April 12, 1961, and Yuri Gagarin had arrived at the launchpad before his historic flight. He realized he needed to relieve himself…and there were no facilities. This is before the era of TV cameras, so he does his business on the back tire of the launchpad shuttle bus, and unwittingly starts a tradition that lives on to this day.   

The man was a national hero and other cosmonauts sought to emulate everything he did.  For over 50 years since then, cosmonauts faithfully pee on the back tire of the shuttle bus for good luck before going into space.  

According to retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield in his book An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: Much is made of this as a tradition, but really, if you’re going to be locked in a rocket ship, unable to leave your seat for quite a few hours, it’s just common sense.  The suit techs on board had to help us undo all the tricky fasteners they’d painstakingly closed not an hour before, so we were able to urinate manfully on the tire”.  

Women are excused from this ritual, but may bring a vial of their own urine to pour on the tire if they wish.

Other Russian Rituals

It’s considered good luck to watch a specific movie the night before the launch.  Cosmonauts watch “The White Sun of the Desert”, sort of a western action movie set at the time of the Russian revolution.

What about bad luck?  Cosmonauts never watch the rocket being moved to the launchpad. To do that is considered inviting bad luck.  Instead, they must get a hair cut.

In addition, no mission can ever take place on October 24^th, as that is the anniversary of the world’s worst space disaster.  On this date in 1960 at the Baikonur test range, a rocket’s second stage engine ignited accidentally while still on the launch pad.  This caused the first stage fuel tanks directly below to explode, killing over 90 of the Soviet Union’s top engineers, spaceship designers and officers.

American Traditions and Superstitions

Surely NASA scientists and astronauts don’t partake in such superstitious rituals? Think again. 

The first American in space was Alan Shepard, who ate a breakfast of steak and eggs before getting into his spacecraft.  Almost 60 years later, many astronauts continue this tradition.

Every crew is presented with a fully iced cake during the prelaunch breakfast. The cake is even decorated with the crew’s mission patch.  But it’s considered bad luck if anyone eats it.

Another ritual has the astronauts, dressed in their flight suits except for their helmets, sit down and play cards.  Tradition dictates they play until the Commander loses a hand. Once they were almost late because the Commander kept winning.

Apollo 13 cleared the launch tower at 13:13 Houston time, and the command module explosion happened on April 13.  The number 13 is now studiously avoided in all missions.

Ranger 7

It was July 28, 1964, just before the launch of Ranger 7.  Ranger 1 through 6 missions had all ended in failure.  The pressure was on for NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) to succeed this time.

The mood in the control room was tense. The rocket lifted off and … success!

After the mission was completed, the engineers and technicians met to try to understand what was different about Ranger 7.  Everything they checked seemed the same.  They could not find a single thing they had done differently.

Finally a timid hand was raised at the back of the room.  “We ate peanuts this time”. The launch director had passed out peanuts just before the launch.

Ever since then, peanuts are a fixture at every launch.  I visited JPL and confirm there are nuts all over the place!