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On this day – October 3

Posted on This article was published on October 3, 2025September 23, 2025 By Barb Sande

The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.

The earliest event was in 1962, the latest event was in 2018

One milestone event (5 to 65+years ago)

Human Spaceflight:

1962 – LAUNCH: Mercury MA-8 (Sigma 7), GD Atlas D, LC14, CCAFS – Wally Schirra, six orbits

1985 – LAUNCH: STS-51-J (Atlantis), LC39A, KSC – 5 person crew, deployed GE DSCS III F-2 and F-3 using IUS, first flight of OV Atlantis.  Crew: Karol Bobko, Ronald Grabe, David Hilmers, Robert Stewart, William Pailes  – MILESTONE: 40 years ago

1988 – LANDING: STS-26 (Discovery), Edwards AFB

2018 – LM reveals new human lunar lander concept at a trade show in Europe

Military and Classified Programs:

NONE

Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:

NONE

Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:

NONE

Commercial Programs:

NONE

Test, ICBM, FBM programs:

1983- LAUNCH: Lockheed Trident C4, SSBN728, ETR

1984- LAUNCH: MM Pershing 2, LC16, CCAFS

Other:

NONE

The photos today are from two missions.  First, there is the launch of Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7) in 1962 and its astronaut Wally Schirra, who did six orbits of Earth.  Photo Credits: NASA. 

Second, there are photos from the STS-51-J mission in 1985, the first mission for OV Atlantis that deployed DSCS III F-2 and F-3.  These photos include the launch, the crew and the DSCS-III  payloads in the shuttle bay.  Commander Karol Bobko (formerly an MOL astronaut candidate) did his third and last shuttle flight on this mission (he flew on three different shuttles and on two OV debut flights).  Photo Credits: NASA. 

October 3 – Launch of Mercury Atlas 8. Photo Credit: NASA.
October 3 – Sigma Seven astronaut Wally Schirra. Photo Credit: NASA.
October 3 – Launch of STS-51-J. Photo Credit: NASA.
October 3 – Crew of STS-51-J (see text for crew names). Photo Credit: NASA.
October 3 – Deployment of a DSCS satellite on STS-51-J. Photo Credit: NASA.
On This Day

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