The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1960, the latest event was in 2016
Three milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1968 – LAUNCH: Apollo 7, Saturn 1B, LC34, CCAFS – First manned Apollo mission; orbital checkout of command module by Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham
1994 – LANDING: STS-68 (Endeavour), Edwards AFB
2000 – LAUNCH: STS-92 (Discovery), LC39A, KSC – 7 person crew, ISS assembly/logistics, including Z1 truss. Crew: Brian Duffy, Pamela Melroy, Koichi Wakata (JAXA), William McArthur, Peter Wisoff, Michael Lopez-Alegria (USA/Spain), Leroy Chiao – MILESTONE: 25 years ago
Military and Classified Programs:
1960 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Classified mission, GD Atlas/Lockheed Agena A, SLC3W, VAFB – MILESTONE: 65 years ago
1967 – LAUNCH: RCA DMSP-Block-4D F10, Thor Burner 2, SLC10W, VAFB
2001 – LAUNCH: USA 162, LM Atlas IIAS, LC36B, CCAFS
2007 – LAUNCH: WGS-1, ULA Atlas V 421, LC41, CCAFS
2016 – Long-service LM DSCS 3 satellites improve internet access for researchers in Antarctica
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1960 – LAUNCH FAILURE: GD Atlas E, LC13, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 65 years ago
1966 – LAUNCH FAILURE: GD Atlas F, 576-A2, VAFB
1967 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas D, 576-B3, VAFB
1972 – LAUNCH: MM Titan II, 395-C, VAFB
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from the Apollo 7 mission and include the launch, the crew and an image from the live television events. Apollo 7 was a technical success, but there was a lot of friction and conflict between the crew members (none flew again) and Mission Control. They also suffered from miserable head colds during the flight. The crew had the first live television event from space. Photo Credits: NASA.
Here’s more about the crew after the mission from Wikipedia:
None of the Apollo 7 crew members flew in space again. According to Jim Lovell, “Apollo 7 was a very successful flight—they did an excellent job—but it was a very contentious flight. They all teed off the ground people quite considerably, and I think that kind of put a stop on future flights [for them].” Schirra had announced, before the flight,his retirement from NASA and the Navy, effective July 1, 1969. The other two crew members had their spaceflight careers stunted by their involvement in Apollo 7; by some accounts, Kraft told Slayton he was unwilling to work in future with any member of the crew. Cunningham heard the rumors that Kraft had said this and confronted him in early 1969; Kraft denied making the statement “but his reaction wasn’t exactly outraged innocence.” Eisele’s career may also have been affected by becoming the first active astronaut to divorce, followed by a quick remarriage, and an indifferent performance as backup CMP for Apollo 10. He resigned from the Astronaut Office in 1970.
