The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1917 (not a typo), the latest event was in 2020
No milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
NONE
Military and Classified Programs:
1965 – LAUNCH: RCA DMSP Block-4A F4,Thor Burner 1, SLC10W, VAFB
1968 – LAUNCH: Classified mission,MM Titan IIIB, SLC4W, VAFB
1971 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Corona 143, Thorad SLV-2H/Lockheed Agena D, SLC3W, VAFB
2023 – LAUNCH: NROL-107 (Silentbarker), ULA Atlas V 551, LC-41, CCSFS – Last Atlas V launch for the NRO (one year ago)
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
2011 – LAUNCH: LM Grail A, B, ULA Delta 7920H, LC17B, CCAFS – lunar gravity mapping missions
2020 – Lockheed Martin, University of Colorado team up on small satellite mission (Janus) to Binary asteroids
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
1992 – LAUNCH: GE Satcom 3 (also Hispasat 1A), Ariane 44LP, ELA2, Kourou, French Guiana
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1968 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A2E, SSBN617, ETR
2013 – LAUNCH (2): LM Trident D5, SSBN734, ETR
Other:
1917 – The Glenn L. Martin company is incorporated for the second time (the first was in 1912).
The photos today are from the Grail A & B mission. First, there is an artist’s conception of Grail A & B in operation in lunar orbit, the launch on Delta 2 H and an image of the gravity mapping of the moon. Grail A & B (Ebb & Flow) mapped the gravity field of the moon in great detail, ending their mission in 2012. Photo Credits: NASA.
NOTE: One year ago, the last Atlas V launch for the NRO was conducted (NROL-107, Silentbarker). No photos that have been released to the public domain are available yet for sharing.
