The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below. NOTE: The single event from February 29 is also included.
The earliest event was in 1959, the latest event was in 2022
Three milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago); one milestone event was on February 29
Human Spaceflight:
1960 (February 29) – Eleven companies submit proposals for Saturn I second stage (S-IIC), including GD, North American Aviation, Lockheed, and Martin company. MILESTONE: 65 years ago
1977 – ALT-7, Captive Inert Test #4, Enterprise Shuttle/Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Dryden Research Center, Edwards AFB – 28,565 feet. Approach and Landing Test Program.
1990 – LAUNCH: STS-36 (Atlantis), LC39A, KSC – 5 person crew, classified payload. Crew: John Creighton, John Caspar, Pierre Thuot, David Hilmers, Mike Mullane. – MILESTONE: 35 years ago
Military and Classified Programs:
1959 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Discoverer 1, Thor/Lockheed Agena A, SLC1W, VAFB
1963 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Lockheed Corona 60, Thor SLV-2A/Lockheed Agena D, SLC1W, VAFB
1981 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, MM Titan 24B, SLC4W, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1966 – LAUNCH: RCA ESSA-2, Thor Delta E, LC17B, CCAFS
Commercial Programs:
1998 – LAUNCH: LM Intelsat 806, LM Atlas IIAS, LC36B, CCAFS
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1963 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas D, 576-A3, VAFB
1968 – LAUNCH: MM Titan II, 395-B, VAFB
1980 – LAUNCH (4): Lockheed Trident C-4, SSBN657, ETR – MILESTONE: 45 years ago
1982 – LAUNCH (2): Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN628, ETR
Other:
2022 – LM to deliver 42 small satellites for the Space Development Agency Tranche 1 Project
The photos today are of the STS-36 launch and crew in 1990. There were limited or no photos during the mission due to the classified payload deployment. Photo Credits: NASA.
The drawing today is the proposed Stage II-C for the Saturn I (becoming the Saturn V). Proposals were submitted on February 29, 1960 for this contract.
