The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1958, the latest event was in 1994
Four milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1985 – LAUNCH: STS-51-I (Discovery), LC39A, KSC – 5 person crew, deployed three satellites including RCA ASC-1 (American Satellite Company-1). Crew: Joe Engle, Richard Covey, James van Hoften, John Lounge, Williams Fisher.
Military and Classified Programs:
1994 – LAUNCH: USA 105, MM Titan IVA(401)/Centaur, LC40, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 30 years ago
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
1962 – LAUNCH: Mariner 2, GD Atlas/Lockheed Agena B, LC12, CCAFS – first successful fly-by of another planet (Venus)
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1970 – LAUNCH: RCA Transit O19, Scout A, SLC-5, VAFB
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1958 – LAUNCH: Lockheed X-17, Platform AVM1, Atlantic – Argus I
1959 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris AX, EAG-154, ETR – MILESTONE: 65 years ago
1962 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A2, LC25A, CCAFS
1964 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas E, OSTF-1, VAFB – MILESTONE: 60 years ago
1974 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, SSBN600, ETR – MILESTONE: 50 years ago
1980 – LAUNCH (3): Lockheed Trident C4, SSBN 655, ETR
1988 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Trident D5, LC46, CCAFS
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from two events. First, there is the launch of Mariner 2 by Atlas/Agena B in 1962. This was the first successful fly-by of another planet (Venus). The fly-by occurred on December 14, 1962. Photo Credit: NASA (NASA historical photo archives).
The second set of photos are from the STS-51-I mission in 1985. They include the launch, the crew and the deployment of the ASC-1 spacecraft built by RCA. Photo Credits: NASA.
