The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1946, the latest event was in 2000
Two milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1985 – SLC-6, VAFB, declared operational for shuttle flights – MILESTONE: 40 years ago
1996 – Rockwell (Boeing)/Lockheed Martin joint partnership United Space Alliance is awarded $7 Billion Space Shuttle Processing contract
Military and Classified Programs:
1979 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, MM Titan IIIC, LC40, CCAFS
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
2000 – LAUNCH: LM GE-1A – Proton-K/DM-2M, LC81/23, Baikonur, Kazakhstan – MILESTONE: 25 years ago
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1946 – MM Viking sounding rocket program begins
1949 – Cape Canaveral long-range proving ground activated
1956 – LAUNCH: Lockheed X-17 launched, LC3, CCAFS
1963 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A2, SSBN619, ETR
Other:
1958 – Contract awarded to Pratt & Whitney for development of the GD Centaur upper stage engine
1958 – NASA formally begins operations
The photo today is the planned Space Shuttle SLC-6 pad with the drop test Enterprise Space Shuttle during checkouts. A drawing showing the planned shuttle operations is also included. The “Blue” shuttle program at SLC-6 was placed in “caretaker” status after the Challenger failure and then completely shut down in 1989. The drawing is from the USAF Public Affairs Office and has been released to the public domain.
Here are details about the photo:
“Low angle view of gantry and Space Shuttle Enterprise in launch position on the Vandenberg Air Force Base’s Space Launch Complex 6 (commonly known as “SLICK 6”), in California, during the ready-to-launch checks to verify launch procedures.” Attributed to U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. James R. Pearson.
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