Tell HN: SpaceX Launch Scrubbed for Weather. Delayed for 3 days - itsspring
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dang
Comments moved to
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23322948](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23322948).

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fermienrico
The use of word "Scrubbed" bothers me. Whats wrong with "Aborted"? Scrubbing
is a mechanical action to remove something. "Aborted" or "Cancelled" is a more
precise word. Not just the title of this thread, SpaceX themselves use the
word "Scrubbed".

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itsspring
If I recall, there is a distinction. I believe aborted is a reserved term for
mechanical or technical issues within last-minute launch sequence, while
scrubbed is for unrelated issues (ie, weather).

The SpaceX spokesperson even accidentally said "aborted", but then correct
himself to "scrubbed" immediately.

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fermienrico
Thanks for the insight, so there is actual reasoning behind this distinction.
Still a weird choice of a word, but I concede the original remarks. Similarly,
the use of the word - "Scrapped" \- why not "Discarded"?. Way better and more
precise.

Reminds me of "Take off" vs "Departure" in commercial flights due to the mixup
in some 1980's incident. Notice that they always use the word "Departure", as
in - "Ready for departure", when communicating with the passengers but the ATC
reserves the word "Take off" when instructing the pilots "Clear for take off".

