The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1962, the latest was in 2023
No milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1962 – Astronaut Group 2 is selected – Included Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, Pete Conrad, Frank Borman, Jim McDivitt, Elliot See, Tom Stafford, Ed White, and John Young
Military and Classified Programs:
1976 – LAUNCH: RCA DMSP Block-5D S1, Thor DSV-2U, SLC10W, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
1996 – LAUNCH: LM (GE) Echostar 2, Ariane 42P, ELA2, Kourou, French Guiana
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1963 – LAUNCH FAILURE: GD Atlas D, 576-B1, VAFB
1967 – LAUNCH: MM Titan II, 395-C, VAFB
1996 – LAUNCH: LM Peacekeeper, LF05, VAFB
Other:
2023 – Lockheed Martin opens futuristic Satellite Operations Center Test Bed at Waterton facility (one year ago)
The photo today is of the legendary Astronaut Group 2, selected on this day in 1962. Front row: Pete Conrad, Frank Borman, Neil Armstrong, John Young; back row: Elliot See, Jim McDivitt, Jim Lovell, Ed White, Tom Stafford. All of these astronauts except Elliot See flew on Gemini missions. This group of nine includes three moonwalkers (Armstrong, Conrad, Young) and a man who went to the moon twice but never landed (Jim Lovell). John Young also commanded the first shuttle mission in 1981. Two of these astronauts died prematurely (Elliot See in a plane crash , Ed White in the Apollo 7 fire). With the passing of Jim Lovell at age 97 on August 8, 2025, all of group 2 are now gone.
