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This Day in Spaceflight History


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March 6

1927: Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., was born. He spent over a day in space on Mercury MA-9 and flew on Gemini 5.

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1937: Valentina Tereshkova was born. She became the first female person in space when she flew on Vostok 6 as propoganda.

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1986: Vega 1 completed a flyby of Comet Halley.

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March 7

1968: Zond 4 reentered the Earth's atmosphere. Its guidance system failed during reentry so it could not complete its planned double-skip reentry into the Soviet Union. As a result, it self-destructed during reentry.

2009: The Kepler space telescope was launched into orbit. It constantly viewed 145,000 stars, detecting over 2,000 planets orbiting them in its first 3 years of operation. 

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March 8

1959: A Mercury abort test was conducted at Wallops Island. The abort procedure was less than nominal, causing sporadic movement on the spacecraft. 

1977: Uranus was discovered to have rings.

Image result for uranus rings

1986: The Japanese Suisei spacecraft completed a flyby of the comet Halley.

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2001: STS-102 and its crew of 7, including one cosmonaut, was launched on a 12-day mission to the ISS. It carried with it the Leonardo logistics module to be docked to the Unity on the station. It docked with the station on March 9 and delivered the module. It delivered new supplies to the station and retrieved trash to be returned. Spacewalks were conducted to prepare for a Canadian robotic arm to be installed later on in another mission. 102 left behind 3 of its crew and brought back 3 more from the station.

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1934: Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space, was born. He flew on Vostok 1 were he orbited once around Earth. After, the Soviet leaders didn't want him to fly, claiming him as too important. They later let him fly into space again. He died in 1968 in a MiG trainer plane craft.

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1955: Walt Disney's "Man in Space" weekly series premiered, with Wernher Von Braun as a technical adviser.

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1959: Several tests were conducted at Langley and Wallops Island for different ablative materials for a heat shield for an orbital Mercury spacecraft.

  Image result for mercury heat shield tests

1961: Korabl-Sputnik 4, a test of the Vostok spacecraft, was launched. It carried a dog named Chernushka and the mannequin Ivan Ivanovich. After reentry on March 9, Ivanovich was ejected and landed by parachute while Chernushka landed safely with the capsule.

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(The only picture I could find about it was of Chernushka, so here you go.)

1962: John Glenn was presented his Astronaut Wings, becoming the third man to receive them.

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1986: Vega 2 completed its flyby of Comet Halley.

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1996: STS-75 and its crew of 7 landed back at Earth.

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2005: The Cassini spacecraft completed flybys of Enceladus and Tethys.

Image result for cassini enceladus flyby 3/9Image result for tethys moon

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March 10

1978: Soyuz 28 and its crew of 2 landed back at Earth.

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1986: The Japanese probe Sakigake completed a flyby of Comet Halley.

Image result for sakigake comet halley flyby

2006: The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter inserted itself into Mars orbit.

 

March 11

1945: German architect Walter Hohmann died. He defined the Hohmann Transfer, which is the minimal amount of energy needed to transfer orbit to another body.

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1956: Curtis Brown, Jr., was born. He flew into space 6 times on STS-47, 66, 77, 85, 95, and 103.

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1960: Pioneer V was launched. It investigated solar flares, particle energies, and magnetic phenomena from solar orbit between Venus and Earth.

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1961: The second Soviet manned spacecraft, later called Voskhod, was approved.

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2008: STS-123 and its crew of 7 launched into orbit on a 15-day mission to the ISS. It docked to the station on March 13. It delivered the Canadian Dextre robotic manipulator to the end of the already-installed Canadarm-2. It also delivered the Japanese Kibo ELM-PS Experiment Logistics Module. It then undocked from the station on March 25 and landed the next day.

Image result for sts-123 launch

More coming later today

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March 12

1923: Walter Schirra was born. He was one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts and flew on Mercury MA-8, Gemini 6, and Apollo 7. Notable spaceflight achievements was being in the first crew to rendezvous in space and the Commander of the first manned Apollo mission.

Image result for wally schirra

1981: Soyuz T-4 and its crew of 2 launched into orbit on a mission to the Salyut 6.

Image result for soyuz t-4 launch

2002: STS-109 and its crew of 7 landed back at Earth.

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March 13

1781: Astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus.

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1969: Apollo 9 and its crew splashed down in the Atlantic.

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1982: Nikolai Kamanin, the first commander of Soviet cosmonaut detachment, died.

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1986: The ESA's Giotto spacecraft completed a flyby of Comet Halley.

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1986: Soyuz TM-15 and its crew of 2 launched into orbit on a mission to the Mir. On April 17, the Mir was boosted to match the orbit of Salyut 7 and again on May 4. On May 5, the crew undocked, rendezvoused with Salyut 7, and docked to it. They got its systems working again, gathered supplies left behind by the last crew, and undocked on June 25, docking with the Mir again on June 26. The crew landed back at Earth on July 16.

Image result for soyuz tm-15 launch

1989: STS-29 and its crew of 5 launched into orbit on a 5-day mission. It deployed the TDRS-4, a NASA communications satellite. 

Image result for sts-29 launch

Edited by The Raging Sandwich
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March 14

1928: Frank Borman II was born. He flew on Gemini 7 and Apollo 8. Notable spaceflight achievements were being in the first crew to rendezvous in space and being in the first crew to orbit the Moon.

Image result for frank borman

1934: Eugene Cernan was born. He flew on Gemini 9, Apollo 10, and Apollo 17. Notable spaceflight achievements were being the 11th person on the Moon and the last person to step off the Moon.

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1995: Soyuz TM-21 and its crew of 3 launched into orbit on a mission to the Mir. It included astronaut Norman Thagard, the first American to be launched on a Soyuz. It docked to the station on March 16.

   Image result for soyuz tm-21 launch

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March 15

1932: Alan Bean was born. He flew on Apollo 12 and Skylab 3. Notable spaceflight achievement was being the 4th person to walk on the Moon.

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1973: A meteorite fell in San Juan Capistrano, USA.

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2009: STS-119 and its crew of 6 launched into orbit on a 12-day mission to the ISS. It delivered the ITS S6 truss segment and solar arrays to the station.

Image result for sts-119 launch

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March 16

1927: Vladimir Komarov was born. He flew on Voskhod 1 and Soyuz 1. Spaceflight achievement was being the Commander of Voskhod 1, the first mission with more than one person and the first mission with a crew of three. He died on Soyuz 1 when the parachutes tangled up on deployment. US stations in Turkey reported hearing Komarov cursing the people who put him on the "botched ship."

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1932: Ronnie Walter Cunningham was born. He flew on Apollo 7. Spaceflight achievement was being in the first manned Apollo mission.

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1955: Walt Disney's second Von Braun program, Man and the Moon, was first aired. Von Braun introduced a wheel-shaped space station for a platform to the Moon.

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1966: Gemini 8's Agena Target Vehicle was launched into orbit. Gemini 8 was to dock with it in orbit during its mission which would launch the same day.

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1966: Gemini 8 and its crew of Armstrong and Scott launched into orbit. The spacecraft rendezvoused and docked successfully with the Agena Target Vehicle. Soon after, the spacecraft and the Agena started to roll and yaw unexpectedly. The spacecraft and the astronauts were reaching their absolute limits. Armstrong undocked, thinking the problem was with the Agena. This only made it worse and the reaction control systems were shut down. The reentry control systems were used to stop the spinning. A stuck thruster caused the spinning. Most of the fuel was used up in the ordeal and the spacecraft was ordered to land ing the Pacific. This cut Scott's planned spacewalk from the mission. The spacecraft landed safely the same day as launch.

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1975: Mariner 10 started its third and final flyby of Mercury.

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1978: Soyuz 27 and its crew of 2 landed back at Earth.

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March 17

1930: James Irwin was born. He flew on Apollo 15. Spaceflight achievement was being the 8th person on the Moon.

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1936: Thomas Mattingly II was born. He flew on Apollo 16, STS-4, and STS-51-C. He was designated to fly on Apollo 13 but was removed two-days prior after coming down with the measles. Spaceflight achievements were orbiting the Moon as Command Module Pilot of Apollo 16 and the Commander of STS-44 and 51-C.

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1958: Vanguard 1 was launched. It was the fourth artificial satellite launched into Earth orbit. It is currently still in orbit, being the oldest man-made object still in orbit today.

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1992: Soyuz TM-14 and its crew of 3 launched into Earth orbit on a mission to the Mir. It docked to the station on March 19.

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2010: X-15 pilot Robert White died. He became the first person to fly into space on the X-15 on flight 62.

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March 18

1880: Walter Hohmann, the creator of the Hohmann Transfer, was born.

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1961: Mercury Litte Joe LJ-5A was launched. It was a redo of the test flight on November 8, where the spacecraft failed to separate from the rocket. It was to test the structural integrity of the spacecraft during a launch escape on an Atlas booster. The LES fired prematurely again. The spacecraft was ordered to separate, but could not get distance away from the launch vehicle as the LES had already fired. The spacecraft was recovered successfully and was used on the LJ-5B mission.

Image result for mercury lj-5a launch

1965: Voskhod 2 and its crew of 2 launched into Earth orbit on a 1-day mission. An inflatable airlock was extended from the spacecraft hatch. Alexei Leonov stepped out of the airlock to conduct the first spacewalk which lasted 10 minutes.

  Image result for alexei leonov spacewalk

1980: The Tselina-D Ukrainian probe was to be launched into Earth orbit. The rocket exploded, causing the launchpad to be destroyed and decommissioned until April 1983.

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1989: STS-29 and its crew of 5 landed back at Earth.

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1994: STS-62 and its crew of 5 landed back at Earth.

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1995: STS-67 and its crew of 7 landed back at Earth.

Image result for sts-67 landing

Edited by The Raging Sandwich
forums were buggy
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March 19

1965: Voskhod 2 and its crew of 2 landed back at Earth. The failure of the service module to separate after retrofire caused the spacecraft to go off course during reentry. The tie-down straps burned through and the module separated. The spacecraft and the crew landed in a heavy forest in the Ural mountains surrounded by wolves. Recovery crews got to the Voskhod crew two days later.

1990: The Japanese Hiten did a flyby of the Moon.

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2006: The Cassini did a flyby of the moon Titan.

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2008: Author Arthur C. Clarke died. He wrote such things as 2001: A Space Odyssey and wrote the concept of a geosynchronous orbit in 1946.

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March 20

1965: The Voskhod 2 crew were found by recovery crew landing away from the stranded crew via helicopter and skiing down to them.

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March 21

1941: Dirk Frimout, the first Belgian astronaut, was born. He flew on STS-45.

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1965: The crew of Voskhod 2 were recovered.

Image result for voskhod 2 crew recovery

1965: Ranger 9 was launched. It was to impact the lunar surface at the crater Alphonsus. It impacted successfully 65 hours after launch. Americans watched it from real-time pictures transmitted from the probe. 

Image result for ranger 9 launch

2001: STS-102 and its crew of 7 landed back at Earth.

Image result for sts-102 landing

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March 22

1951: Azerbaijani cosmonaut Musa Manarov was born. He flew on Mir Expeditions 3 and 8. Spaceflight achievement was spending 541 total days in space.

Manarov

1981: Soyuz 39 and its crew of 2 launched into orbit on a mission to the Salyut 6.

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1982: STS-3 and its crew of 2 launched into orbit on an 8-day mission. It carried onboard experiments with it as a test flight of the shuttle.

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1995: Soyuz TM-20 and its crew of 3 landed back at Earth.

1996: STS-76 and its crew of 6 launched into orbit on a 9-day mission to the Mir. It was the third Shuttle-Mir mission. It docked with the station on March 24. Shannon Lucid was transferred to the station for an extended stay.

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March 23

1912: Wernher von Braun was born. He was the chief pedant rocket scientist during World War II, designing the V2 missile. After the war, he was transferred to the United States where he worked on early US missiles including the Redstone and Jupiter missiles. He was transferred to the NASA team to help design the Saturn rockets to take the US to the Moon.

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1961: Cosmonaut Valentin Bondarenko died. It was the tenth day of a 15-day endurance test in a pure-oxygen pressure chamber when a fire broke out, killing him.

1965: Gemini 3 and its crew of veteran astronaut Virgil Grissom and rookie astronaut John Young was launched on a three-orbit mission around the Earth. It was the first manned flight of the Gemini spacecraft. After three orbits, the crew made the first manual reentry. As a prank, Young took a corned beef sandwich on the spacecraft with him.

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1983: President Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars." It was an orbital system that would shoot down incoming missiles to the US.

Image result for strategic defense initiative star wars

2001: The Mir space station was deorbited, reentering over Fiji.

Image result for mir space station reentry

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March 24

1961: Mercury MR-BD was launched. It was an unmanned test of the Redstone-Mercury composite. It was launched instead of Mercury MR-3A, what was supposed to be Alan Shepard's flight into space, which was cancelled. Von Braun persisted that they went ahead with one last test before a manned flight. If MR-3A was launched instead, Alan Shepard would've been the first man in space.

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1975: After running out of fuel, Mariner 10 was deactivated.

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1992: STS-45 and its crew of 7 launched into orbit on a 9-day mission. It carried with it the ATLAS-1 experiment package on-board the ship.

sts-45.jpg

Edited by The Raging Sandwich
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March 25

1655: Christiaan Huygens discovered Saturn's moon Titan.

Image result for titan moon

1922: Robert Goddard conducted the first functional test of a liquid-fuel rocket. It had a total of 4 lbs of thrust.

1928: James Lovell, Jr. was born. He flew on Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13. Spaceflight achievements were being in the first crew to rendezvous in space and the first crew to orbit the Moon.

Image result for james lovell

1961: Korabl-Sputnik 5 was launched. It carried with it the dog Zvezdochka and mannequin Ivan Ivanovich. Ivanovich was ejected from the capsule and was recovered safely. Zvezdochka was also recovered safely with the capsule.

Image result for zvezdochka dog

1992: Soyuz TM-13 and its crew of 3 landed back at Earth.

Image result for soyuz tm-13 landing

1996: Comet Hyakutake did a close flyby of Earth, coming within .1 AU.Image result for comet hyakutake earth flyby 1996

2002: Shenzhou 3 was launched after a 3 month delay. It carried with it a dummy that replicated human conditions. It was launched successfully into orbit. The spacecraft landed back at Earth on April 1.

2014: Soyuz TMA-12M and its crew of 3 launched into orbit on a mission to the ISS. It docked to the station on March 27. The crew undocked on September 10 and landed the next day.

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March 26

2009: Soyuz TMA-14 and its crew of 3 launched into orbit on a mission to the ISS.

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March 27

1968: The first man in space and in orbit Yuri Gagarin died along with his instructor pilot Sergin. He was on a training flight on a MiG-15 after being accepted back into flight service when it crashed.

Image result for yuri gagarin crash

More coming tomorrow...

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March 27, cont.

1969: Mariner 7 was launched. It was to flyby Mars on August 5. Numerous problems like antenna failure occurred but most were fixed. The encounter began on August 2. It reached closest approach of 2,131 miles on August 5. A total of 126 pictures of Mars were transmitted back to Earth.

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1972: Venera 8 was launched to Venus. It entered Venus' atmosphere on July 22. Aerobraking reduced the speed drastically and the spacecraft landed on the surface by parachute. Data was transmitted and recieved 50 minutes after landing.

Image result for venera 8 

1989: Contact was lost with the Phobos 2 spacecraft. It was to release 2 landers onto Mars' moon Phobos, but could not as a result of the lost contact. It successfully entered Mars orbit on January 29.

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1992: James Webb, the NASA Administrator throughout most of the Space Race, died.

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2008: STS-123 and its crew of 7 landed back at Earth.

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2015: Soyuz TMA-16M and its crew of 3 launched into orbit. In the crew was Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko, who were supposed to spend around a year aboard the ISS. The spacecraft landed back at Earth on September 12.

Image result for soyuz tma-16m launch

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March 28

1802: Astronomer Wilhelm Ober discovered Asteroid 2 Pallas.

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1946: Wubbo Ockels, the first Dutch astronaut, was born. He flew on STS-61-A.

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1963: The fourth and final test of the Saturn 1 first stage (S-1) was conducted. It was launched on a suborbital flight reaching a maximum height of 80 miles. Engine 5 was shut down as to test the "engine out" capability of the stage, which was successful.

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1969: President Dwight Eisenhower died (1953-1961). Because he distrusted the military to handle space operations, he founded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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1986: The ICE spacecraft did a flyby of the Comet Halley.

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2013: Soyuz TMA-08M and its crew of 3 launched into orbit on a mission to the ISS. It docked to the station on March 29.

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March 29

1807: Wilhelm Ober discovered Asteroid 4 Vesta.

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1965: After the EVA of Alexei Leonov on Voskhod 2, a full EVA was suggested for Gemini 4. All that was originally planned was a stand-up EVA, where astronaut Ed White would stand up in his seat. A mock-up EVA chestpack and a prototype maneuvering gun were also demonstrated.

Image result for ed white eva

1974: Mariner 10 did its first flyby of Mercury, revealing a cratered surface.

Image result for mariner 10 first mercury flyby

1998: The Galileo spacecraft did a flyby of Europa.

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Sorry I haven't been consistent in posting, since Spring Break is over tomorrow, I'll most likely be posting everyday again.

March 30

1981: Soyuz 39 and its crew of 2 landed back at Earth.

1982: STS-3 and its crew of 2 landed back at Earth. It was the only shuttle landing at White Sands, New Mexico. Image result for sts-3 landing

2006: Soyuz TMA-8 and its crew of 3 launched into orbit. It docked to the ISS on April 1. At the end of the mission, it undocked on September 28 and landed the next day.

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March 31

1966: Luna 10 was launched. It entered orbit of the Moon on April 4. It functioned conducting experiments until May 30.

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1987: The Kvant 1 Mir space station module was launched into orbit. It docked to the station on April 9 and its service module was jettisoned on April 12 after an EVA.

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1996: STS-76 and its crew of 5 landed back at Earth.

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2005: The Cassini spacecraft did a flyby of the moon Titan.

2006: The Cassini did another flyby of Titan.

 

April 1

1899: James McDonnell, the president of McDonnell Aircraft (1939-1972) was born. He was the contractor for the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft.

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1945: Congress approved the construction of the Wallops Island guided missile base.

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1960: The Mercury astronauts completed their centrifuge training.

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1960: TIROS-1, the first weather satellite, was launched. It was placed into an accurate orbit to study cloud data. 

TIROS_1_launch.jpg

 

April 2

1958: President Eisenhower proposed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to Congress. It was to be a civilian-run government organization that would conduct research under their own bases.

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1959: NASA Astronaut Training Group 1, or the Mercury 7, was selected. These pilots were to fly in the Mercury Program, NASA's first manned spaceflight program. It included Alan Shepard, Virgil Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Walter Schirra, and Donald Slayton. Slayton would be grounded for the Mercury flights but eventually flew into space on the Apollo-Soyuz joint flight.

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1963: Luna 4 was launched. It was the second attempt by the Soviets to make a soft-landing on the Moon. The failure of a mid-course correction resulted in the spacecraft missing the Moon entirely.

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1992: STS-45 and its crew of 7 landed back at Earth.

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1994: The Chinese Fen Yung 2 geostationary weather satellite exploded during final checkout killing 1 worker and injuring 20.

2010: Soyuz TMA-18 and its crew of 3 launched into orbit on a mission to the ISS. The crew attempted to leave the station on September 24 but the docking latches would not release. The attempt the next day was successful along with the landing.

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I would have been far more interested in soviet spacecraft back in the day had they bothered to take and publish any decent images. That TIROS-1 image looks like something taken in the last few years, and the modern Soyuz stuff is stunning to see. back in the day? Grainy images that made their accomplishments look dingy, vs Hasselblad images from Apollo.

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April 3

1926: Virgil Grissom was born. He flew on Mercury MR-4 and Gemini 3. Spaceflight achievements were being the second American in space and the Commander of the first Gemini mission. He died when a fire broke out in a pad simulator.

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1926: Robert Goddard made the second launch of a liquid-fuel rocket. It was in flight for 4 seconds and landed 50 feet away.

1973: The Salyut 2 space station was launched. It was the first Almaz military space station. After achieving orbit, the station depressurized and control was lost on April 25. Its orbit decayed on May 28 before a crew could be sent to it.

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1984: Soyuz T-11 and its crew of 3 was launched into orbit on a mission to the Salyut 7.

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April 4

1930: The American Rocket Society was founded. It was originally called the American Interplanetary by its founders. The original members conducted their own rocket tests and development in New York and New Jersey.

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1968: Apollo 6 was launched. It was the second ever launch of the Saturn V rocket and carried an unmanned Apollo spacecraft and lunar module. It had a shaky launch but made it into orbit. During the first-stage burn during launch, oscillations were recorded. In the second stage, two of the engines shut down. The three remaining engines burned longer to compensate. The third stage also boosted longer than it was supposed to and made it into an elliptical orbit, opposed to the near-circular orbit it was supposed to achieve. Different maneuvers were conducted in orbit. When it came time to deorbit, the third stage did not fire again. The CSM decoupled from the stage and continued on without it. The spacecraft landed normally. 

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1983: STS-6 and its crew of 4 launched into orbit on a 5-day mission. It was the first flight of the Challenger.It deployed the TDRS-1 civilian communications satellite. Its own rocket stage boosted it to geosynchronous orbit.

Image result for sts-6 launch

More later today 

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April 4, continued

1997: STS-83 and its crew of 7 launched into Earth orbit on a 4-day mission. It was postponed 1 day as insulation around a water cooler had to be replaced. The launch was postponed 20 minutes the next day as their were abnormal oxygen readings in the payload bay. One of the three fuel cells providing energy and water to the shuttle had a problem, and thus the mission was cut short on April 6. The spacecraft landed on April 8. The shuttle carried equipment to be delivered to the ISS. The same equipment would be flown to the ISS on STS-94 in 1997.

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2000: Soyuz TM-30 and its crew of 2 launched into orbit on a mission to the Mir. It docked to the uninhabited station on April 6

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2011: Soyuz TMA-21 and its crew of 3 launched into orbit on a mission to the ISS. It docked to the station on April 6. It undocked 8 days later than planned after the failure of Progress M-11M. Communications were lost after the deorbit burn but the crew landed safely.

Image result for soyuz tma-21 launch

 

April 5

1894: USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev was born. He was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1956-1964.

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1949: Dr. Judith Resnik was born. She flew on STS-41-D and STS-51-L. She died in the Challenger accident.

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1950: Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz was born. He flew on STS-61-C, 34, 46, 60, 75, 91, and 111. Spaceflight achievement is holding a record of 7 spaceflights.

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1965: Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford were chosen were selected as pilots of Gemini 6. 

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1975: Soyuz 18-1 and its crew of 2 was launched. The mission was to dock with the Salyut 4. During launch, the third stage failed to separate from the second stage but still ignited. The spacecraft was separated by ground control and the crew landed on a mountain. The capsule tumbled down the hill and got caught in some bushes. 

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1991: Astronaut Dr. Manley Carter died in a crash of a commercial airliner in New Brunswick, Georgia. He flew on STS-33.

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1991: STS-37 and its crew of 5 was launched into Earth orbit on a 6-day mission. It deployed the Compton Observatory, later renamed the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, on April 7. Its high-gain antenna failed to deploy, so an unscheduled EVA was conducted to manually deploy it. It was deorbited on June 3, 2000 after numerous gyroscope failures.

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1998: After the success of the movie Apollo 13, Tom Hanks released From Earth to the Moon, a TV series on the entire manned Apollo program.

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2004: The Spirit Mars rover ended its primary mission.

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2010: STS-131 and its crew of 7 launched into orbit on a 15-day mission to the ISS. 

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April 6

1973: Pioneer 11 was launched by an Atlas/Centaur rocket. It was the second spacecraft after Pioneer 10 to reach Jupiter. It did a Jupiter flyby in December, 1974. It used Jupiter's gravity to then slingshot it to reach Saturn in September, 1979. It was then catapulted out of the solar system. Telemetry systems were shut down on September 30, 1995.

Image result for pioneer 11 launch

1984: STS-41-C and its crew of 5 launched into orbit on a 7-day mission. It was the first repair of a satellite in orbit, the Solar Maximum Mission. It deployed the LDEF, a micrometeoroid satellite, on April 7

Image result for sts-41-c launch

1992: Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov died.

Image result for isaac asimov

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