Space History

This Week In Space History

      Tuesday August 20th:

            1953 Redstone first test launch.

            1975 Viking-1 Launched to Mars for landing.

            1977 Voyager-2 Launched for Tour of the Outer Planets.

      Wednesday August 21st:

            1965 Launch of Gemini 5 - Cooper, Conrad (100 x 215 nm, 32.6 deg, 128 orbits)

            1972 OAO-3 Launch. Orbiting Astronomical Observatory. Copernicus.

            1993 Contact lost with Mars Observer spacecraft 3 days prior to Mars orbit
insertion burn. Probable propellant explosion at pressurization.

            2007 Landing of Endeavour, after mission STS-118, on KSC runway 15.

      Thursday August 22nd:

            2001 Return of ISS Expedition 2 crew after 167 days, aboard STS-105.
Usachev, J.Voss, and Helms.

            2003 Brazilian VLS-1 (s/n 3) explodes on the pad, killing 21
Probably solid rocket booster inadvertent ignition.

            2014 Failed launch of the first two full operational capability Galileo navigation satellites.
Fregatt stage problem left them in an unusable orbit,
due to a design error that failed to require thermal separation of cryo line from a hydrazine line.

      Friday August 23rd:

            1961 Ranger-1 test Launch. Agena fails to restart.

      Saturday August 24th:

            1958 Explorer-5 Launch. Upper stage malfunction. Fails to orbit.

            1966 Luna-11 Launched to Lunar orbit.

            1976 Soyuz-21 Lands! Night time. Possible emergency evacuation after 48 days aboard Salyut-6.

            1983 China-13 Re-entry vehicle recovered.

            2012 Death of Neil A. Armstrong at age 82.

      Sunday August 25th:

            1964 Explorer-20 Launch. 2nd in series of ionosphere exp. satellites.

            1981 Voyager-2 Flyby of Saturn (62948mi).

            1989 Voyager-2 Flyby of Neptune.

            2003 Launch of SIRTF (Space Infrared Telescope Facility)
The fourth NASA Great Observatory, renamed Spitzer.

      Monday August 26th:

            1974 Soyuz-15 Launch. Sarafanov, Demin. Fails to dock with Salyut-3.

            1978 Soyuz-31/29 Launch. Bykovsky, Jahn (E.GER) Dock with Salyut-6.

Space history data compiled by Jay Apt. Thanks to the following good sources:
TRW Space Log, NASA Glenn Research Center Space Calendar,
Rick von Glahn's CompuServe SpaceForum archive,
Jonathan's Space Report, and astronautix.com

Based on the today.cgi Perl script © 1998 The Puppet Master.
Formdate.pl subroutine © 1997 Craig Patchett & Matt Wright.

Schedule
Jay Apt Here

1953	Redstone first test launch.
1975	Viking-1 Launched to Mars for landing.
1977	Voyager-2 Launched for Tour of the Outer Planets.

1965	Launch of Gemini 5 - Cooper, Conrad (100 x 215 nm, 32.6 deg, 128 orbits)
1972	OAO-3 Launch. Orbiting Astronomical Observatory. Copernicus.
1993	Contact lost with Mars Observer spacecraft 3 days prior to Mars orbit insertion burn. Probable propellant explosion at pressurization.
2007	Landing of Endeavour, after mission STS-118, on KSC runway 15.

2001	Return of ISS Expedition 2 crew after 167 days, aboard STS-105. Usachev, J.Voss, and Helms.
2003	Brazilian VLS-1 (s/n 3) explodes on the pad, killing 21 Probably solid rocket booster inadvertent ignition.
2014	Failed launch of the first two full operational capability Galileo navigation satellites. Fregatt stage problem left them in an unusable orbit, due to a design error that failed to require thermal separation of cryo line from a hydrazine line.

1958	Explorer-5 Launch. Upper stage malfunction. Fails to orbit.
1966	Luna-11 Launched to Lunar orbit.
1976	Soyuz-21 Lands! Night time. Possible emergency evacuation after 48 days aboard Salyut-6.
1983	China-13 Re-entry vehicle recovered.
2012	Death of Neil A. Armstrong at age 82.

1964	Explorer-20 Launch. 2nd in series of ionosphere exp. satellites.
1981	Voyager-2 Flyby of Saturn (62948mi).
1989	Voyager-2 Flyby of Neptune.
2003	Launch of SIRTF (Space Infrared Telescope Facility) The fourth NASA Great Observatory, renamed Spitzer.

1974	Soyuz-15 Launch. Sarafanov, Demin. Fails to dock with Salyut-3.
1978	Soyuz-31/29 Launch. Bykovsky, Jahn (E.GER) Dock with Salyut-6.