The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1958, the latest was in 1997
No milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1958 – USAF Ballistic Missile Division published man-in-space concepts, including lunar landings and development of alternative launch vehicles and stages like a Martin Titan Fluorine-hydrazine “super” stage
1961 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Mercury-Atlas 3, GD Atlas D, LC14, CCAFS -Atlas off-course, destroyed by range safety (MA3 capsule survived)
1962 – LAUNCH: SA-2, LC-34, CCAFS – Second test of Saturn I, dummy upper stages released water into the atmosphere to study effects on communication
Military and Classified Programs:
1979 – SAMSO Contracts awarded for conceptual studies of DMSP Block 6 to various companies including RCA, GE and Lockheed
1992 – LAUNCH: USA 81, MM Titan II SLV, SLC4W, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1988 – LAUNCH: GE (RCA) Transit O25, Scout G1, SLC5, VAFB
1997 – LAUNCH: GOES 10, LM Atlas I, LC36B, CCAFS – Last Atlas I
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1962 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A2, SSBN609, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from two events. First, there is the launch of Mercury-Atlas 3 and the subsequent failure/chute deployment of the capsule in 1961. Photo Credits: NASA. Here’s an interesting story about this failure:
From Wikipedia
As Mercury Flight Director Gene Kranz recalled, “Seconds after the launch, a note of anxiety crept into the Welsh accent of Tec Roberts, the flight dynamics officer (FIDO) responsible for launch and orbital trajectory control, as he reported, ‘Flight, negative roll-and-pitch program.’ A collective shudder went through everyone in the control room as the controllers absorbed the chilling significance of Roberts’s terse report. The roll-and-pitch program normally changed the initial vertical trajectory of the launch into a more horizontal one that would take the Atlas out over the Atlantic. This Atlas was still inexplicably flying straight up, threatening the Cape and the surrounding communities. The worst-case scenario would be for it to pitch back toward land or explode. The higher it flew before it exploded, the wider the ‘footprint’ of debris scattered all over the Cape and surrounding area would be. The RSO (range safety officer) monitoring the launch confirmed the lack of a roll-and-pitch program, then continued to give the Atlas an opportunity to recover and start its track across the Atlantic. The RSO lifted the cover on the command button and watched as the Atlas raced to a fatal convergence with the limits on his plot board. At forty-three seconds after liftoff, Roberts reported, ‘The range safety officer has transmitted the destruct command.’ We waited, not speaking, counting the seconds, listening for the telltale, muffled krump that would signal the mission was over. Carl Huss, the retro controller (RETRO), responsible for reentry trajectory planning and operations, reported, ‘Radar tracking multiple targets.’ Roberts’s response echoed all our feelings: ‘Chris, I’m sorry.’ We sat by the consoles, not talking for several seconds. Then, one by one, the controllers closed their countdown books and started to pack their documents.”
The second photo is the launch of GOES-10 (GOES-K) on Atlas I in 1997. This was the last flight of Atlas I. Photo Credit: NASA/KSC Media gallery. Here is the caption for the photo as found on Wikipedia:
The GOES-K weather satellite lifts off from Launch Pad 36B at Cape Canaveral Air Station on an Atlas 1 rocket (AC-79) at 1:49 a.m. EDT April 25. The GOES-K is the third spacecraft to be launched in the new advanced series of geostationary weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The GOES-K is built for NASA and NOAA by Space Systems/LORAL of Palo Alto, Calif. The advanced weather satellite was built and launched for NOAA under technical guidance and project management by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Once it is in geosynchronous orbit at 22,240 miles above the Earth’s equator at 105 degrees West Longitude and undergoes its final checkout, the GOES-K will be designated GOES-10. The primary objective of the GOES-K launch is to provide a full-capability satellite in an on-orbit storage condition to assure NOAA backup continuity in weather coverage of the Earth in case one of the existing two operational GOES satellites now in orbit begins to malfunction.
