The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1962, the latest event event was in 2023
One milestone event (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1965 – Gemini program office “seriously” evaluating using a combination of MM Titan II/Titan IIIC vehicles to achieve a circumlunar flight with a Gemini capsule
1971 – LAUNCH: Apollo 15, Saturn V, LC39A, KSC – First “J” mission (multi-day & rover) to the moon with Commander Dave Scott, LM Pilot Jim Irwin and CM Pilot Al Worden.
2005- LAUNCH: STS-114 (Discovery), LC39A, KSC – 7 person crew, ISS – return to flight mission after STS-107 was lost on 2/1/2003. Crew: Eileen Collins, James Kelly, Soichi Noguchi (JAXA), Steve Robinson, Andrew Thomas (Australia/US), Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camada.
Military and Classified Programs:
2023 – LM is selected by a joint DARPA/NASA project to develop and demonstrate a nuclear-powered spacecraft known as DRACO (Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations) – One year ago
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1962 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A2, LC25A, CCAFS
1963 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, LC29A, CCAFS
1963 – LAUNCH FAILURE: GD Atlas E, OSTF1, VAFB
1974 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, SSBN602, ETR – MILESTONE: 50 years ago
1986 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, UK S27, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from two missions. First, there are photos of the launch and crew for the Apollo 15 mission in 1971. Photo Credits: NASA. I was very fortunate to see this launch in person from Titusville after begging my parents to include that event on a driving trip to Florida that summer. I later met astronaut Jim Irwin and he was a mentor to me while I went through Engineering School at CU.
Second, there are photos from the STS-114 mission in 2005, which was the return-to-flight shuttle mission after the loss of Columbia upon re-entry on February 1, 2003. These photos include the launch, the crew, a short video of foam debris coming off the tank, damage to a thermal blanket, and repairs to the TPS during flight. Photo Credits: NASA. I was also involved in this mission as I was on a special LM review team sent to Michoud to review tank foam processes while STS-114 was still in orbit.
Here’s a story about the debris incidents and investigation from public NASA sources on Wikipedia – Note that the folks at Michoud received a long-overdue apology from NASA for being blamed for workmanship concerns with foam debris.
At 127.1 seconds after liftoff, and 5.3 seconds after SRB separation, a large piece of debris separated from the Protuberance Air Load (PAL) ramp, which is part of the external tank. The debris was thought to have measured 36.3 by 11 by 6.7 inches (922 by 279 by 170 mm) – and to weigh about 0.45 kilograms (0.99 lb), or half as much as the piece of foam blamed for the loss of Columbia.[4] The debris piece did not strike any part of the Discovery orbiter. Images of the external tank taken after separation from the orbiter show multiple areas where foam insulation was missing.
Around 20 seconds later, a smaller piece of foam separated from the ET and apparently struck the orbiter’s right wing. Based on the mass of the foam, and the velocity at which it would have struck the wing, NASA estimated it only exerted one-tenth the energy required to cause potential damage. Laser scanning and imaging of the wing by the OBSS did not reveal any damage. On July 27, 2005, NASA announced that it was postponing all Shuttle flights until the foam loss problem could be resolved.
As with Columbia, NASA at first believed that workers’ improper installation and handling of the external tanks at the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana caused the foam loss on Discovery. NASA Administrator Michael Griffen stated that the earliest the next shuttle could launch is September 22, 2005, but that’s only “if next week, the guys have an Aha! Effect on the foam and spot why this big chunk came off.” Later in August, it became clear that a September launch date would not be possible, and that the earliest date for the next launch would be in March 2006. However, because Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the next launch was delayed further. With the destruction suffered by Michoud and NASA’s Stennis Center due to Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding, the launch of the next shuttle mission (STS-121) was further delayed until July 4, 2006.
In December 2005 X-ray photographs of another tank showed that thermal expansion and contraction during filling, not human error, caused the cracks that resulted in foam loss. NASA official Wayne Hale formally apologized to the Michoud workers who had been blamed for the loss of Columbia for almost three years.
