The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1956, the latest event was in 2022
Human Spaceflight:
1973 – LAUNCH: Skylab 4, Saturn 1B, LC39B, KSC – Final Skylab crew (William Pogue, Edward Gibson, Gerald Carr)
1982 – LANDING: STS-5 (Columbia), Edwards AFB
1984 – LANDING: STS-51-A (Discovery), KSC
2009 – LAUNCH: STS-129 (Atlantis), LC39A, KSC – 6 person crew, ISS spares and logistics
2022 – LAUNCH: Artemis I, with LM Orion spacecraft and ULA Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, LC-39B, KSC
Military and Classified Programs:
1977 – Aerojet receives a contract from the USAF to provide engines for the Titan III program
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
2001 – LM Genesis is inserted into orbit at L1
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1956 – VAFB selected as first ICBM base
1956 – LAUNCH: Lockheed X-17, LC3, CCAFS
1963 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A2, SSBN619, ETR
1968 – LAUNCH FAILURE: GD Atlas F/Trident, 576-A3, VAFB – FAILURE
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from two missions. First there are photos of the launch in 1973 of the Skylab 4 mission, the crew (all rookies), an activity on-board Skylab and a last view of Skylab as the crew departed. There will be an article in the MARS STAR next year about this mission in my multi-series history profiles of the Skylab program. Second, there are photos of Artemis I mission that launched on this day in 2022, including the launch and a view of Earth from the Orion spacecraft.
