The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1962, the latest event was in 2001
Two milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1962 – Space Systems Division awards contract to Aerojet-General for 15 propulsion systems for MM Titan II/GLV (Gemini program)
1966 – House committee recommends combining Apollo Applications Program with Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL)
2001 – LANDING: STS-102 (Discovery), Edwards AFB
Military and Classified Programs:
1971 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, MM Titan 33B, SLC4W, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
1965 – LAUNCH: Ranger 9, GD Atlas/Lockheed Agena B, LC12, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 60 years ago
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1963 – LAUNCH: MM Titan II, LC15, CCAFS
1963 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas F, OSTF-2, VAFB
1980 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, LC29C, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 45 years ago
1983 – LAUNCH (2): Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN635, ETR
1987 – LAUNCH: MM Peacekeeper, LF08, VAFB
1988 – LAUNCH (5): MM Pershing 2, LC16, CCAFS
1989 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Lockheed Trident D-5, SSBN734, ETR – first operational sea test
Other:
NONE
The photo today is the spectacular failure of the first operational sea test Trident D-5 in 1989 on this day. This photo was found on the National Archives and is labeled unrestricted for usage.
From Wikipedia:
The first submarine launch was attempted by USS Tennessee, first D-5 ship of the Ohio class, on 21 March 1989 off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch attempt failed four seconds into the flight because the plume of water following the missile rose to a greater height than expected, and water was in the nozzle when the motor ignited. Once the problem was understood, relatively simple changes were quickly made, but the problem delayed the IOC (initial operational capability) of Trident II until March 1990.
