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 2018
One milestone event (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1961 – John Glenn selected for the first orbital Mercury-Atlas flight
1961 – LAUNCH: Mercury MA-5, GD Atlas D, LC19, CCAFS – Orbital flight with Enos the chimp
2018 – LM selected for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Lander Payload Services initial Contract – NOTE: As of 2024, this contract was superseded by additional study contracts for other companies. The LM proposed lander (McCandless Lunar Lander) was not awarded a development contract.
Military and Classified Programs:
1962 – Ground breaking at Edwards AFB for the Solid Rocket Motor test facility for MM Titan III
1987 – LAUNCH: DSP Block 5R,MM Titan 34D/Transtage, LC40, CCAFS
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1965 – LAUNCH: Alouette 2/Explorer 31, Thor SLV-2A/Lockheed Agena B, SLC2E, VAFB – ionospheric research
Commercial Programs:
1994 – LAUNCH: Orion 1, MM Atlas IIA, LC36A, CCAFS – French communications satellite – MILESTONE: 30 years ago
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1958 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas B, LC14, CCAFS
1961 – LAUNCH: Martin Titan I, LC19, CCAFS
1961 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas D, 576-B2, VAFB
1963 – All 18 Titan II ICBMs at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, declared operational
1965 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas D, 576-A1, VAFB
1967 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, EAG-154, Johnston Island, Pacific
Other:
NONE
The photos today are of the successful orbital Mercury-Atlas flight 5 with Enos the Chimp, the first chimpanzee to orbit Earth; this success coincided with the announcement of John Glenn as the designated astronaut for MA-6. Photo Credits: NASA.
