"The U.S. space shuttle fleet is set for retirement following the launch of Atlantis, scheduled for mid-July. In all, the fleet will have flown 135 missions, the first in 1981, but there were many more on the drawing board. With scrubbed missions that included daring rescues, in-orbit satellite snatches, and dangerous explosives, you can see why some of these didn't make the cut. But just imagine if they had."
The hairiest one looks like this one here:
1981 RETURN TO LAUNCH SITE
In the event of engine problems during launch, one emergency procedure involved flipping over in mid ascent and thrusting back to Florida for a runway landing. It worked in the simulator, but it was so dangerous that astronauts considered it barely preferable to crashing into the ocean.
The first one would have saved SkyLab if they could have launched in time
1979 REBOOST SKYLAB
As America's first space station (1973–4) slipped steadily from orbit, NASA built a small booster rocket to be attached to it by a two-man crew (Fred Haise and Jack Lousma) on an urgent early flight. But launch schedules slipped, and Skylab fell on Australia.
In other news on NASA Watch, check out these spectacular pics from the ISS during spacewalks
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