The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1970, the latest event was in 2001
Two milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1994 – LANDING: STS-65 (Columbia), KSC – MILESTONE: 30 years ago
1999 – LAUNCH: STS-93 (Columbia), LC39A, KSC – 5 person crew, deployed Chandra X-ray observatory, successful but with major anomalies (hydrogen leak, wiring harness short) – see story below – MILESTONE: 25 years ago. Crew: Eileen Collins, Jeffrey Ashby, Catherine Coleman, Steven Hawley, Michel Tognini (CNES – France).
Military and Classified Programs:
1970 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Corona 139, Thorad SLV-2H/Lockheed Agena D, SLC3W, VAFB
1976 – UTC/CSD receives a contract for five sets of solid rocket motors for the MM TIII program
1997 – LAUNCH: LM GPSIIR-2 (SVN 43), Delta 7925, LC17A, CCAFS
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1972 – LAUNCH: GE/RCA Landsat 1 (ERTS-A), Delta 0900, SLC2W, VAFB
2001 – LAUNCH: GOES-12, LM Atlas IIAS, LC36A, CCAFS
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1983 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN645, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from the STS-93 mission in 1999 and include the launch, photographic evidence of the hydrogen leak in the main engine compartment, the crew, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory in the cargo bay of shuttle. This mission had anomalies during ascent that were nearly mission threatening, but it was successfully completed. Photo Credits: NASA.
From Wikipedia:
During the main engine ignition sequence, a gold pin used to plug an oxider post in the OV’s number three engine came loose and was violently ejected, striking the engine nozzle’s inner surface and tearing open three cooling tubes containing hydrogen. These ruptures resulted in a leak downstream of the main combustion chamber. This anomalous event and the automatic response to the leak by the right engine’s controlled not violate any launch commit criteria and liftoff proceeded normally.
However, approximately 5 seconds after liftoff, an electrical short disabled the center engine’s primary digital control unit, DCU-A, and the right engine’s backup unit, DCU-B. The center and right engines continued to operate on their remaining DCUs for the rest of powered flight to orbit. The redundant set of DCUs in each engine controller saved Columbia and her crew from potential catastrophe, as shutdown of two engines at that point in the flight would have resulted in a very risky contingency abort with no guarantee of success. The electrical short was later discovered to have been caused by poorly routed wiring, which had rubbed on an exposed screw head. This wiring issue led to a program-wide inspection of the wiring in all orbiters.
The leak due to the pin impingement caused a decrease in thrust. Oxidizer feed was increased in the engines to make up for the decrease. This caused the three OV engines to shut down prematurely, but Columbia safely made orbit.
