Trivia
HardNASA Carefully Timed Space Shuttle Flights To Avoid What?

Answer: New Year’s Eve
While launching men and women into space seems inherently high-tech and futuristic, there were many elements of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program that were downright anachronistic by the time the shuttles were retired. One of the side effects of running a spacecraft full of 1980s-era computer chips and 1970s-era code was a very cautionary stance towards events that may have introduced unknown variables or factors the computer system wasn’t programmed to handle correctly.
It was that extreme caution and desire to bring every crew home safely that led NASA to approach the yearly rollover from December 31st to January 1st with a “better safe than sorry” attitude. The engineers were particularly concerned that the Year-End Rollover (YERO) event could cause some disturbance in the flight software that might endanger the crew. Even when they finished conducting extensive tests in 2007 and devised a solution to ensure safety, they still erred on the side of caution.
Over the span of 135 shuttle flights between 1981 and 2011, no shuttle was ever launched, in space, or guided to re-entry on New Year’s in order to avoid any unforeseen problems with the onboard systems.
Trivia
HardStar Wars’ Iconic “Opening Crawl” Text Was Inspired By?
Trivia
HardThe First Consumer Sewing Machine To Feature Computerized Design Inputs Was Powered By A?
Trivia
HardThe European Space Agency’s Spacecraft Venus Express Is Studying Venus And?
Trivia
HardWhich Candy Was Originally Produced Using Decommissioned World War II Machinery?
Trivia
HardThe Oldest Planetarium In The World Is Located Where?
Trivia
EasyIn The Song Bohemian Rhapsody, “Scaramouche” Is A?
Trivia
HardWhich Of These Actors Has Portrayed Batman In The Most Films?
Trivia
EasyWhich Film Was The First Summer Blockbuster?
Trivia
EasyWhat Was The Transporter Effect Created With On Star Trek: The Original Series?
Trivia
EasyCrepuscular Animals Are Most Active During?