The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The first event was in 1958, the latest event was in 2005
Four milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1984 – LAUNCH: STS-41-B (Challenger), LC39B, KSC – 5 person crew, several payloads launched, first test flight of MM MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) – Crew: Vance Brand, Robert Gibson, Bruce McCandless, Robert Stewart, Ron McNair
1994 – LAUNCH: STS-60 (Discovery), LC39A, KSC – 6 person crew, multiple payloads, Spacehab/Mir. Crew: Charles Bolden, Kenneth Reightler, Jan Davis, Ron Sega, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Sergei Krikalev (Russia) – First Russian on the Shuttle
1995 – LAUNCH: STS-63 (Discovery), LC39B, KSC – 7 person crew multiple payloads, Spacehab/Mir. Crew: James Wetherbee, Eileen Collins, Bernard Harris, Michael Foale (United Kingdom), Janice Voss, Vladimir Titov (Russia) – MILESTONE: 30 years ago
Military and Classified Programs:
1988 – LAUNCH: GE DMSP S-8, GD Atlas E, SLC3W, VAFB
2005 – LAUNCH: USA 181, LM Atlas 3B, LC36B, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 20 years ago
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1966 – LAUNCH: RCA ESSA-1, Thor Delta C, LC17A, CCAFS
Commercial Programs:
2000 – LAUNCH: Hispasat1C, LM Atlas IIAS, LC36B, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 25 years ago
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1958 – President Eisenhower assigns highest and equal priority to GD Atlas, Martin Titan, Thor, and Jupiter systems; this returned the Titan I system to highest status (Titan and Thor were downgraded in 1957)
1964 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A2, SSBN622, ETR
1966 – LAUNCH: MM Titan II, 395-D, VAFB
1976 – LAUNCH (3): Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN643, ETR
1980 – LAUNCH (3): Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN654, ETR – MILESTONE: 45 years ago
1982 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, UK S26, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photos today are of the crew and launch for STS-41-B in 1984. The actual day of the first test flight of the MMU is listed as a separate event under that date. Photo Credits: NASA
