The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below:
The earliest event was in 1961, the latest event was in 2009
Human Spaceflight:
1992 – LAUNCH: STS-46 (Atlantis), LC39A, KSC – 7 person crew, failed to deploy MM/Italian space agency TSS-1 (tether line jammed on a bolt), other deployments successful
2009 – LANDING: STS-127 (Endeavour), KSC
Military and Classified Programs:
1963 – LAUNCH: Classified mission Thor SLV-2A/Lockheed Agena D, SLC2W, VAFB
1969 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, Thorad SLV-2G/Lockheed Agena D, SLC1W, VAFB
1983 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, MM Titan 34B, SLC4W, VAFB
1995 – LAUNCH: MM (GE) DSCS III B-7, MM (GD) Atlas IIAS, LC37B, CCAFS
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1961 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas E, LC11, CCAFS
1963 – MM Titan I acquisition phase completed
1963 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas D, 576-B1, VAFB
1967 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, SSBN659, ETR
1979 – LAUNCH (2): Lockheed Trident C4, SSBN657, ETR
1987 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN631, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from the STS-46 mission and include launch, the crew and the Tethered Satellite System, which failed to deploy properly on that mission. The TSS was built by Martin Marietta for the Italian Space Agency and NASA and a summary of the failure from that first flight attempt is noted below:
With the Shuttle in orbit at an altitude of 300 km (160 nautical miles), TSS-1 deployment began. The boom with the satellite was extended, raising the satellite and tether “upward” (toward space). The tether began deploying at a rate of 5.9 inches (15 cm) per minute. At 78 meters the tether stuck. The snag was resolved and the tethered continued until it reached a length of 256 meters, where it stuck again. The satellite reached a maximum distance of about 260 m (854 feet) out of the planned 20,500 meters (12.5 miles). The problem was found to be a protruding bolt that jammed the deployment mechanism and prevented deployment to the full extension. The bolt in question was the late-stage modification to the reel system.
