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On this day – July 15

Posted on July 15, 2024July 12, 2024 By Barb Sande

The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.

The earliest event was in 1959, the latest event was in 2021

Two milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)

Human Spaceflight:

1975 – MM X-24B flight 54, Dryden Lake – Pilot John Manke

1975 – LAUNCH: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), Saturn 1B, LC39A, KSC – Deke Slayton, Tom Stafford, Vance Brand 

1975 – LAUNCH: Soyuz 19 (Valerie Kubasov, Alexei Leonov) on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission (significant historical mission)

2009 – LAUNCH: STS-127 (Endeavour), LC39A, KSC – 7 person crew, ISS logistics , KIBŌ assembly, small satellites – MILESTONE: 15 years ago.  Crew: Mark Polansky, Doug Hurley, Christopher Cassidy, Julie Payette (Canadian Space Agency), Thomas Marshburn, David Wolff, Timothy Copa (To ISS – Expedition 20), Koichi Wakata (JAXA – From ISS Expedition 20). 

2021 – LM STAR Center Production facility opens in Titusville, Florida for state-of-the-art processing of Orion spacecraft

Military and Classified Programs:

1963 – Secretary McNamara approves continued development of Titan III program after a six-month review

1980 – LAUNCH FAILURE: RCA DMSP 5D S4, Thor DSV-2U, SLC10W, VAFB – electrical connectors improperly separated in booster vehicle

2015 – LAUNCH: GPS IIF-10 (SVN 72), ULA Atlas V 401, LC41, CCAFS

Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:

NONE

Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:

NONE

Commercial Programs:

NONE

Test, ICBM, FBM programs:

1960 – GD Atlas F squadron 576A activated at VAFB

1960 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A1, LC25B, CCAFS

Other:

1959 – The iconic NASA “Meatball” logo was introduced on this day – MILESTONE: 65 years ago

The photos today are from the Apollo Soyuz Test Project mission in 1975.  They include the Saturn 1B launch, the two crews of the mission, the Soyuz 9 as seen from the Apollo CM, and the “handshake in space”.   Photo Credits: NASA. 

July 15 – Launch of the Apollo portion of the ASTP mission. Photo Credit: NASA.
July 15 – Crews of the ASTP mission (see text for crew names). Photo Credit: NASA.
July 14 – Soyuz 9 approaches the Apollo CSM for the first international docking in space. Photo Credit: NASA.
July 15 – The handshake in space on the ASTP mission. Photo Credit: NASA.
On This Day

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