The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1961, the latest event was in 2021
No milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1975 – MM X-24B Flight 60, Dryden Lake – pilot Dick Scobee
2021 – Nanoracks, Voyager and Lockheed Martin teamed up to develop a commercial space station (Starlab) – NOTE: The LM role has apparently been taken over by Airbus since this announcement in 2021
Military and Classified Programs:
1961 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, GD Atlas/Lockheed Agena B, SLC3E, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs
1971 – LAUNCH FAILURE: RCA ITOS-B, Thor Delta N6, SLC2E, VAFB
Commercial Programs:
2000 – LAUNCH: LM GE-6, Proton-K/DM-2M, LC81/23, Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1965 – LAUNCH: MM Pershing 1, Gilson Butte, Utah
1968 – LAUNCH (5): Lockheed Polaris A2E, SSBN608, ETR
1988 – LAUNCH: MM Pershing 1A, Fort Bliss, Texas
Other:
NONE
The photo today is the Thor Delta N6 on the pad with the RCA ITOS-B spacecraft encapsulated. This mission failed during ascent, as noted in this caption for the photo:
On October 21, 1971, this Delta rocket carrying the Improved TIROS Operational Satellite (ITOS-B) lifted off from NASA’s Western Test Range in California. The flight failed. Engineers determined that a nitrogen jet system in the rocket’s second stage failed to maintain a stable attitude during the coast phase of the launch. Consequently, the satellite never achieved a usable orbit. NASA developed, launched and operated the ITOS weather satellites for what was then known as the National Environmental Satellite Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The satellite was supposed to provide routine weather observations.
The photo was found on Wikipedia and is attributed to the Greatest Images of NASA public archives (public domain).
