The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1956, the latest event was in 2013
Two milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1963 – LAUNCH: GD Little Joe II, LC36, White Sands, New Mexico- Qualification test (Apollo spacecraft test vehicle)
Military and Classified Programs:
1984 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, MM Titan 34B, SLC4W, VAFB – MILESTONE: 40 years ago
1985 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Classified mission, MM Titan 34D (34D7) SLC4E, VAFB – premature Stage I shutdown – MILESTONE: 40 years ago
2013 – LAUNCH: USA 245, ULA Delta 4H, SLC6, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1964 – LAUNCH PARTIAL FAILURE: RCA Nimbus 1, Thor SLV-2/Lockheed Agena D, SLC2W, VAFB – early Agena engine cut-off
Commercial Programs:
1990 – LAUNCH: GE (RCA) Yuri 3A, H-1, Tanegashima N-1, Tanegashima, Japan – MILESTONE: 35 years ago
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1956 – LAUNCH: Lockheed X-17, LC3, CCAFS
1963 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas D, 576-B3, VAFB
1971 – LAUNCH: MM Titan II, 395-C, VAFB
1976 – LAUNCH (2): Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN641, ETR
1981 – LAUNCH (4): Lockheed Trident C4, SSBN641, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photo today is of the successful launch of USA-245 by ULA Delta 4H in 2013. The photo was found on the ULA Flickr site and has the following caption:
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket lifts off with the NROL-65 satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on Aug. 28, 2013. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance. Copyright © United Launch Alliance, all rights reserved. The photo is being used for non-commercial and historic purposes for retirees of LM and ULA.
Note that the loss of Titan 34D7 (VAFB) occurred on this date 40 years ago. For those who worked the recovery from that failure it still feels like yesterday.
