The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1969, the latest event was in 2024.
One milestone event (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1985 – LAUNCH: STS-61-A (Challenger), LC39A, KSC – 8 person crew (largest on a shuttle mission); Spacelab D1 Microgravity Research. Crew: Henry Hartsfield, Steven Nagel, Bonnie Dunbar, James Buchli, Guion Bluford, Reinhold Furrer (DLR – West Germany), Ernst Messerschmid (DLR – West Germany), Wubbo Ockels (ESA – France). – MILESTONE: 40 years ago
Military and Classified Programs:
1982 – LAUNCH: DSCS II-15, GE DSCS III-01, MM Titan 34D/IUS, LC40, CCAFS
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1973 – LAUNCH: RCA Transit O-20, Scout A-1, SLC5, VAFB
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1969 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, SSBN622, ETR
Other:
2024 – Lockheed Martin advances space capabilities through strategic Terran Orbital acquisition (spacecraft bus manufacturer)
The photos today are from two missions. First, there is a photo of the first Titan 34D launch in 1982. This launch, using an IUS upper stage, launched DSCS-II and GE DSCS-III spacecraft. This photo was found in the National Archives and was attributed to the DoD and released to the public domain.
Second, there are photos from the STS-61-A mission, also known as the D-1 Spacelab mission in 1985 and include the launch, the crew and experiments during the mission. This flight had 8 crew members, the most for a space shuttle flight. Other mission manifests may show 8 crew members, but those included “swap” positions at Mir or ISS. Photo Credits: NASA.
