The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1957, the latest event was in 2001
Three milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1984 – LAUNCH: STS-41-G (Challenger), LC39A, KSC – 7 person crew, deployed ERBS satellite (Earth Radiation Budget Satellite). Crew: Robert Crippen, Jon McBride, Kathryn Sullivan, Sally Ride, David Leestma, Paul Scully-Power (USA/Australia), Marc Garneau (Canadian Space Agency)
Military and Classified Programs:
1961 – Special study presented at USAF Space Division headquarters identifies the goal of developing a standardized military launch vehicle known as the Titan III
1964 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Corona 86, Thor SLV-2A/Lockheed Agena D, SLC1W, VAFB – 100th Thor/Agena launch
1965 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Corona 101, Thor SLV-2A/Lockheed Agena D, SLC1E, VAFB – MILESTONE: 60 years ago
1966 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, GD Atlas SLV-3/Lockheed Agena D, SLC3E, VAFB
1968 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, Thorad SLV-2G/Lockheed Agena D, SLC1W, VAFB
2001 – LAUNCH: USA 161, LM Titan TIVB(404), SLC4E, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1965 – LAUNCH: OV1-2, GD Atlas D, 576-B3, CAFB – magnetosphere satellite – MILESTONE: 60 years ago
1993 – LAUNCH (spacecraft propulsion failure): GE/MM Landsat 6, MM Titan II/SLV, SLC4W, VAFB – FAILURE of kick motor for Landsat (Titan II successful)
Commercial Programs:
1997 – LAUNCH: LM Echostar 3, LM Atlas IIAS, LC36B, CCAFS
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1957 – Secretary of Defense approves a revised Ballistic Missile Program, designating nearly $1 Billion for Atlas, Titan and Thor programs
1960 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A1, LC25A, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 65 years ago
1961 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas E, LC13, CCAFS
1972 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, SSBN601, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photos today are from two missions.
First, there are photos of the STS-41-G mission and include the launch, the crew and astronaut Kathryn Sullivan during an EVA (she was the first American woman to walk in space). Photo Credits: NASA.
Information from the photo of the crew from the NASA archives/Wikipedia: The crew assigned to the STS-41G mission included (seated left to right) Jon A. McBride, pilot; mission specialists Sally K. Ride, Kathryn D. Sullivan, and David C. Leestma. Standing in the rear, left to right, are payload specialists Paul D. Scully-Power and Marc Garneau with crew commander Robert L. Crippen in the middle. Launched aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on October 5, 1984 at 7:03:00 am (EDT), the STS-41G mission marked the first flight to include two women. Sullivan was the first woman to walk in space. The crew deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS), connected the components of the Orbital Refueling System (ORS) which demonstrated the possibility of refueling satellites in orbit, and carried 3 experiments of the Office of Space Terrestrial Applications-3 (OSTA-3).
Second, there is a photo of the launch of USA-161 on Titan IVB (404) from VAFB in 2001. This photo was found on the National Archives and is attributed to a DoD release to the public domain.
