The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1959, the latest event was in 2021
Six milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1975 – MM X-24B flight 54, Dryden Lake – Pilot John Manke – MILESTONE: 50 years ago
1975 – LAUNCH: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), Saturn 1B, LC39A, KSC – Deke Slayton, Tom Stafford, Vance Brand – MILESTONE: 50 years ago
1975 – LAUNCH: Soyuz 19 (Valerie Kubasov, Alexei Leonov) on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission (significant historical mission) – MILESTONE: 50 years ago
2009 – LAUNCH: STS-127 (Endeavour), LC39A, KSC – 7 person crew, ISS logistics , KIBŌ assembly, small satellites. Crew: Mark Polansky, Doug Hurley, Christopher Cassidy, Julie Payette (Canadian Space Agency), Thomas Marshburn, David Wolff, Timothy Copa (To ISS – Expedition 20), Koichi Wakata (JAXA – From ISS Expedition 20).
2021 – LM STAR Center Production facility opens in Titusville, Florida for state-of-the-art processing of Orion spacecraft
Military and Classified Programs:
1963 – Secretary McNamara approves continued development of Titan III program after a six-month review
1980 – LAUNCH FAILURE: RCA DMSP 5D S4, Thor DSV-2U, SLC10W, VAFB – electrical connectors improperly separated in booster vehicle – MILESTONE: 45 years ago
2015 – LAUNCH: GPS IIF-10 (SVN 72), ULA Atlas V 401, LC41, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 10 years ago
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1960 – GD Atlas F squadron 576A activated at VAFB – MILESTONE: 65 years ago
1960 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A1, LC25B, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 65 years ago
Other:
1959 – The iconic NASA “Meatball” logo was introduced on this day
The photos today are from the Apollo Soyuz Test Project mission in 1975. They include the Saturn 1B launch, the two crews of the mission, the Soyuz 9 as seen from the Apollo CM, and the “handshake in space”. Photo Credits: NASA.
