The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1961, the latest event was in 2003
One milestone event (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
NONE
Military and Classified Programs:
1963 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Corona 69, Thor SLV-2A/Lockheed Agena D, SLC1W, VAFB
1965 – President Johnson approves $1.5 Billion Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) – missions will be launched using the Titan IIIM variant – MILESTONE: 60 years ago
1979 – 5 1/2 segment Solid Rocket Motor test-fired at UTC/CSD for Titan 34D program
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
1989 – Voyager 2 Neptune fly-by (launched by MM Titan IIIE/GD Centaur in 1977)
2003 – LAUNCH: LM SIRTF (Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope), Delta 7920H, LC17B, CCAFS
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1988 – LAUNCH: GE (RCA) Transit O25, O31, Scout G1, SLC5, VAFB
Commercial Programs:
1991 – LAUNCH: LM Yuri 3B H-1, Tanegashima Complex, Tanegashima, Japan
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
NONE
Other:
1961 – Lockheed receives a contract for initial development of Agena D upper stage
1982 – The Bendix Corporation, under CEO William Agee, initiates a hostile takeover bid for Martin Marietta – a classic case study in business law and administration
The photos today are from two missions. First, there is an image of Neptune as captured by Voyager 2 during its flyby in 1989. Photo Credit: NASA.
Second, there is the launch of SIRTF (later named Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope) on Delta 7920H in 2003 and a photo of the telescope during processing. Spitzer operated until January, 2020. Photo Credit: NASA.
Also, note these two interesting news items:
- President Johnson approved the MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory) program in 1965, to the tune of $1.5 billion. It was canceled in 1969.
- In 1982, Martin Marietta was subject to a hostile takeover bid by the Bendix Corporation headed by William Agee. Bendix bought the majority of Martin Marietta shares and in effect owned the company. However, Martin Marietta’s management used the short time separating ownership and control to sell non-core businesses and launch its own hostile takeover of Bendix (known as the Pac-Man Defense). Martin Marietta recruited UTC (United Technologies Corporation) to join in the reverse takeover. Thomas G. Pownall, CEO of Martin Marietta, was successful and the end of this extraordinarily bitter battle saw Martin Marietta survive; Bendix was bought by Allied Corporation (from Wikipedia).
