The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1955, the latest event was in 2016
Three milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1960 – Apollo lunar program announced (name, intent) by NASA
1961 – NASA invites 12 contractors to submit bids for prime contractors of the Apollo program; contractor list included Lockheed, GD/Convair, Martin, and GE
1970 – MM X-24A flight 15, Dryden Lake – Pilot Gentry
1973 – LAUNCH: Skylab 3, Saturn 1B, LC39B, KSC – Second Skylab crew (Jack Lousma, Alan Bean, Owen Garriott)
1999 – LANDING: STS-93 (Columbia), KSC – MILESTONE: 25 years ago
Military and Classified Programs:
1962 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Corona 47, Thor/Lockheed Agena B, SLC1W, VAFB
2014 – LAUNCH: USA 253-255, ULA Delta 4M+(4,2), LC37B, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 10 years ago
2016 – LAUNCH: USA 269, Atlas V 541, LC41, CCAFS
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
1964 – LAUNCH: Ranger 7, GD Atlas/Lockheed Agena B, LC12, CCAFS – First successful Ranger mission – MILESTONE: 60 years ago
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1967 – LAUNCH: OGO-4, Thor SLV-2A/Lockheed Agena D, SLC2E, VAFB – magnetosphere observatory
Commercial Programs:
1997 – LAUNCH: Superbird C, LM Atlas IIAS, LC36B, CCAFS
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1955 – President Eisenhower and his staff are given an in-depth briefing on the GD Atlas program
1958 – Martin Titan I deployment plan released and approved for Lowry, Ellsworth and Mountain Home AFBs
1960 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Martin Titan I, LC20, CCAFS
1983 – LAUNCH (4): Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN622, ETR
1986 – LAUNCH (2): Lockheed Trident I C4, SSBN655, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from two missions. First, there is the launch of Ranger 7 in 1964 by Atlas/Agena B, the first fully successfully Ranger mission to the moon. Photo Credit: NASA.
Second, there is a photo of the Saturn 1B launch in 1973 and the crew of Skylab 3, the second mission to Skylab. Skylab 3 was at the orbital workshop for 58 days. Photo Credits: NASA.
