The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1962, the latest event was in 1997
One milestone event (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
NONE
Military and Classified Programs:
1962 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Corona 42, Thor/Lockheed Agena B, SLC2E, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
1966 – LAUNCH: Surveyor 1, GD Atlas D/Centaur, LC36A, CCAFS – First operational Atlas/Centaur
1971 – LAUNCH: Mariner 9, GD Atlas SLV-3C/Centaur, LC36B, CCAFS – Mars orbiter, mapping mission; propulsion system for the spacecraft built at Martin Marietta.
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1974 – LAUNCH: ATS-6, MM Titan IIIC, LC40, CCAFS – NASA applications satellite – MILESTONE: 50 years ago
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1970 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas F/Trident, 576-A3, VAFB
1997 – LAUNCH: LM Trident D5, SSBN742, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from two missions: The first photo is the launch of Surveyor 1 on Atlas D/Centaur in 1966 (color photo) and this was the first operational Atlas/Centaur; Surveyor 1 successfully landed on the moon. This photo was archived in the Great Images in NASA History. Photo Credit: NASA.
The second set of photos include the launch of Mariner 9 in 1971 on Atlas SLV-3C/Centaur (photo credit: USAF/Patrick AFB released to public domain) and a photo of the spacecraft (photo credit: NASA/GSFC); Mariner 9 operated in Mars orbit until the fall of 1972. A schematic of Mariner 8 and 9 from the NASA archives is also included. Martin Marietta built the spacecraft propulsion components for Mariner 9.
