The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below:
The earliest event was in 1960, the latest event was in 1984
Human Spaceflight:
1972 – NASA requested proposals for the Space Shuttle program (program announced in January 1972)
1984 – LAUNCH: STS-41-C (Challenger), LC39A, KSC – 5 person crew, solar max satellite repair, LDEF, MM MMU flight (Nelson)
Military and Classified Programs:
1967 – LAUNCH: ATS-2, GD Atlas SLV-3/Lockheed Agena D, LC12, CCAFS – PARTIAL FAILURE – inserted into wrong orbit
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
1973 – LAUNCH: Pioneer 11, GD Atlas SLV-3D/Centaur, LC36B, CCAFS – flyby of Jupiter and Saturn, long duration, first Atlas D booster
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1968 – LAUNCH: OV1-13, OV1-14, GD Atlas F, VAFB576-A2
1978 – MM Titan 34D/IUS configuration withdrawn as a backup to STS for TDRS launches
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1960 – GD Atlas E/F silo squadrons increased by one silo each
1961 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A1, SSBN600, ETR
1964 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A2, SSBN625, ETR
1965 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas D, 576-B1, VAFB
Other:
NONE
The photos today are of two events. First, the launch of Pioneer 11 on an Atlas SLV-3D/Centaur in 1973 on the first Atlas D booster. Pioneer 11 flew by Jupiter and Saturn. The last contact with Pioneer 11 was in 1995. The second event is the STS-41-C mission in 1984 that included the second MMU mission. Photos include the launch, the crew and an MMU flight by George Nelson to try and capture the solar max satellite.