The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1949, the latest event was in 2000
One milestone event (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1998 – LANDING: STS-90 (Columbia), KSC
Military and Classified Programs:
1966 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Lockheed Corona 108, Thor SLV-2A/Lockheed Agena
1994 – LAUNCH: USA-103, MM Titan IVA(401)/Centaur, LC40, CCAFS
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1949 – LAUNCH: Martin Viking 1 (Aeronomy/Photography), LC33, White Sands, New Mexico
2000 – LAUNCH: GOES-11, LM Atlas IIA, LC36A, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 25 years ago
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1956 – Convair Division of General Dynamics announced as prime contractor for the Atlas program
1961 – LAUNCH: Martin Titan I, SLTF, VAFB – first silo launch
1961 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A1, SSBN602, ETR
1966 – LAUNCH FAILURE: GD Atlas D, 576-A1, VAFB
1968 – LAUNCH FAILURE: GD Atlas F, 576-A2, VAFB
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from two events. First, there is the landing of STS-90 at KSC in 1998. Photo Credit: NASA/Photo STS-090-s-023 released to Public Domain.
Second, there is a photo of the launch of GOES-11 on an LM Atlas IIA in 2000. Here is the caption for the photo:
The Atlas II/Centaur rocket carrying the NASA/NOAA weather satellite GOES-L lifts off at 3:07 a.m. EDT from Pad A at Complex 36 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The primary objective of the GOES-L is to provide a full capability satellite in an on-orbit storage condition, in order to assure NOAA continuity in services from a two-satellite constellation. Launch services are being provided by the 45th Space Wing. Once in orbit, the spacecraft is to be designated GOES-11 and will complete its 90-day checkout in time for availability during the 2000 hurricane season. Photo Credit: NASA (from KSC Media Gallery).
An interesting side note about this Atlas launch: It was originally scheduled for March, 1999 but a series of slips occurred, including substantial delays to assess both the Centaur upper stage performance (after the failure of TIVB-32 due to a Centaur software parameter issue on April 30, 1999) and RL-10 engine performance (Delta 3 upper stage failure in early May 1999). Other competing launches also caused delays.
