The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1957, the latest event was in 2008
Three milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1984 – MM MMU tested in EVA on STS-41-B flight (Bruce McCandless) – MILESTONE: 40 years ago
2001 – LAUNCH: STS-98 (Atlantis), LC39A, KSC – 5 person crew, ISS assembly operations (Discovery laboratory installation). Crew: Kenneth Cockrell, Mark Polansky, Robert Curbeam, Marsha Ivins, Thomas Jones.
2008 – LAUNCH: STS-122 (Atlantis), LC39A, KSC – 7 person crew, ISS Columbus science module and logistics. Crew: Stephen Frick, Alan Poindexter, Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Hans Schlegel (ESA – Germany), Stanley Love, Léopold Eyharts (ESA, France – to ISS)/Daniel Tani (from ISS).
Military and Classified Programs:
1980 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, MM Titan IIID, SLC4E, VAFB
1994 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Milstar 1-01, MM Titan IVA (401)/GD Centaur, LC40, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 30 years ago
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
1999 – LAUNCH: LM Stardust, Delta 7426-9.5, LC17A, CCAFS – mission to retrieve comet and interstellar dust and return to earth – MILESTONE: 25 years ago
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1957 – LAUNCH: Lockheed X-17, LC3, CCAFS
1958 – LAUNCH FAILURE: GD Atlas A, LC14, CCAFS
1963 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, LC29A, CCAFS
1983 – LAUNCH (2): Lockheed Trident C-4, SSBN640, ETR
Other:
1957 – ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) established
There are five photos today commemorating three missions: Bruce McCandless flies the MMU on the STS-41-B mission in 1984 (40 years ago), the first Milstar launch on Titan TIVA/Centaur is shown in 1994 (30 years ago) and the spacecraft is shown in processing, and the Stardust launch in 1999 (25 years ago) is shown along with the spacecraft in processing.
Here are some specifications for the MMU:
Size – 49 in high x 33 in wide x 48 in deep
Weight- About 782 lbs including astronaut, 338 lbs MMU backpack and 258 lbs Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit
Propulsion – Total of 24 thrusters with 1.7 lbs thrust each and 2 tanks pressurized with 3000 psi nitrogen
Maneuverability— astronaut right hand controller – pitch, yaw and roll; astronaut left hand controller – x, y & z translation
Operational Speed- 1/3-1 mph (top speed approximately 40 mph)
The MMU was used on three shuttle missions in 1984 and was retired after the Challenger disaster.
