Jump to content

This Day in Spaceflight History


Recommended Posts

November 24

1969: Apollo 12 and its crew of 3 landed back in the Pacific after a manned mission to the surface of the Moon.

Image result for apollo 12 splashdown

1991: STS-44 and its crew of 6 was launched into orbit on a 7 day mission. They deployed the USA 75 Defense Support Program satellite on November 25

Image result for sts-44 launch

2002: STS-113 and its crew of 7 was launched into orbit on a 14 day mission to the ISS. It carried a truss to the station to be installed for structural support for radial panels. It also deployed 2 Picosats.

Image result for sts-113 launch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

November 26

1958: The Mercury program was given its name.

Image result for project mercury

1959: Pioneer 3 was launched. It was a tiny lunar flyby probe. Its booster disintegrated 45 seconds after launch.

1988: Soyuz TM-7 and its crew of 3 was launched to the Mir space station. It docked with Mir on November 28.

Image result for soyuz tm-7 launch

1999: The Galileo Jupiter spacecraft did a flyby of the moon Io.

Image result for galileo io 25 flyby

2005The Cassini Saturn spacecraft did a flyby of the moon Rhea.

For some reason, the images for Pioneer 3 and the Rhea flyby aren't showing up. Pioneer 3 was 530x678 and Rhea was 4920x4920.

Edited by The Raging Sandwich
Images didn't show up
Link to comment
Share on other sites

November 27

1980: Soyuz T-3 and its crew of 3 was launched on a 13 day mission to the Salyut 6 space station.

Image result for soyuz t-3 launch

1985: STS-61-B and its crew of 7 was launched into orbit on a 7 day mission. It deployed four satellites, Morelos 2 (civilian communications), Aussat 2 (military communications), Satcom K2 (civilian communications), and the OEX target vehicle, a target for the new autopilot docking program.

Image result for sts-61-b launch

2005: After the failure of retrieving any samples from the last touchdown, the Japanese Hayabusa probe attempted another surface sample from the asteroid Itokawa. It was unsure whether the probe got any samples because of the attitude control jets stopped the high-gain antenna from being pointed towards Earth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1963: The Kennedy Space Center got its name in honor of President Kennedy after his assassination six days earlier.

Image result for ksc

1964: Mariner 4 was launched. It was the first probe to provide up-close images of Mars. It flew by Mars on July 14 and 15, 1965.

Image result for mariner 4 launch

1965: The last Thor/Agena rocket was launched from Vandenburg AFB.

Image result for last thor agena vandenberg afb

1983: STS-9 and its crew of 6 was launched into orbit on a 10 day mission. They carried with them the ESA's Spacelab, an orbital laboratory that stayed in the shuttle's payload bay for the entire mission. The crew was separated into two groups and conducted experiments onboard the Spacelab throughout the mission.

Image result for sts-9 launch

November 29

1961: Astronaut John Glenn was selected for the first Mercury orbital flight. Scott Carpenter was selected as backup pilot.

Image result for friendship 7 launch

1961: Mercury MA-5 was launched. It was the last qualification mission for an orbital flight. It carried with it Enos, a chimpanzee used to test human survival in orbit. After its only two orbits out of three, it was retrofired back to Earth after a roll reaction failure and heating of some electrical units. Enos was found to be in great condition.

Image result for mercury ma-5 launch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

December 1

1958: The designs for the Mercury Little Joe rocket were completed. It was made to test the Mercury spacecraft in short suborbital flights.

Image result for mercury little joe design

1960: Korabl Sputnik III was launched. It was an unmanned probe version of the upcoming Vostok spacecraft that would start manned flight the next year. It carried with it two dogs by the names of Pcheka and Mushka. It also carried other animals such as insects and various plants. It deorbited on December 2 and unfortunately burned up on reentry due to too steep of an angle.

Image result for Korabl sputnik 3 launch

1987: US astronaut Donn Eisele died. He flew on Apollo 7 as Command Module Pilot.

Eisele

2000: The NWA 817 Mars asteroid was found in Morocco.

Image result for nwa 817 meteorite

2000: STS-97 and its crew of 5 was launched into orbit on an 11 day mission. It was an assembly mission to the ISS. It delivered a large solar wing to be docked to the Unity module among other trusses and small modules. It docked to the station on December 2. It undocked after multiple spacewalks and many hours of station assembly on December 9

Image result for sts-97 launch

2005: The Japanese Hayabusa probe departed asteroid 25143 Itokawa after a surface harvesting attempt.

Image result for hayabusa probe

2013: The Chang'e 3 Chinese lunar rover was launched. It entered a polar lunar orbit on December 6. It landed on December 14. It also carried with it a much smaller rover called the Yutu. It was the first soft touchdown on the Moon since Luna 24 in 1976.

Image result for chang'e 3 launch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

December 2

1974: Soyuz 16 and its crew of 2 was launched into orbit on a 6 day mission. It was to test the new spacecraft on-board systems.

Image result for soyuz 16 launch 1974

1988: STS-27 and its crew of 6 was launched into orbit on a 4 day mission. It deployed a classified military satellite.

Image result for sts-27 launch

1990: STS-35 and its crew of 7 was launched into orbit on a 9 day mission. It carried with it the Ultraviolet Astronomy Telescope (Astro), Broad-Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT), the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX), and the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS).

Image result for sts-35 launch

1990: Soyuz TM-11 and its crew of three launched into orbit on a mission to the Mir space station.

1991: STS-44 and its crew of 6 landed back at Edwards AFB after a mission into orbit.

Image result for sts-44 landing

1992: STS-53 and its crew of 5 launched into orbit on a 7 day mission. It deployed the classified USA 89 military satellite. Its other payload, the ODERACS, was unable to be deployed because of failures in its systems.

Image result for sts-53 launch

1993: STS-61 and its crew of 7 launched into orbit on an 11 day mission. It was a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, a failure for NASA. It conducted 5 EVAs during the mission, the most in one shuttle mission at the time. 

Image result for sts-61 launch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

December 3

1904: Argentinian astronomer Charles Perrine discovered Jupiter's moon Himalia.

Image result for himalia moon

1958: President Eisenhower transferred the government owned Jet Propulsion Laboratory to NASA.

1965: Luna 8, a Soviet Moon probe, was launched. It was an attempted soft-lunar landing. It had a late retrofire causing it to crash into the Sea of Storms.

Image result for luna 8 launch

1973: Pioneer 10 flew by Jupiter.

Image result for pioneer 10 jupiter flyby

1985: STS-61-B landed back at Edwards AFB after a mission into orbit.

Image result for sts-61-b landing

2000: The Y000749 Mars meteorite was found in Japan.

Image result for y000749 mars meteorite

2014: Hayabusa 2, a Japanese deep-space probe, was launched. It was to rendezvous with the asteroid 1999 JU3, orbit it, collect a surface sample, and return the sample to Earth. It carried three tiny Minerva landers to be ejected onto the asteroid's surface. 

Image result for hayabusa 2 launch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

December 4

1959: Mercury Little Joe 2 (LJ-2) was launched. It was a Little Joe-Mercury test vehicle launched to test the LES at high-altitudes, the effects of acceleration on a living being (primate), drogue chute systems, and recovery systems. The LES fired perfectly, the spacecraft was recovered, and the onboard rhesus monkey Sam was in great condition.

1965: Gemini 7 and its crew of Frank Borman and Jim Lovell was launched into orbit on a 14 day mission. It was the longest U.S. spaceflight to date. During the mission, they completed the first complete rendezvous of two spacecraft with Gemini 6 and its crew of Walter Schirra and Tom Stafford on December 15, the day of Gemini 6's launch. The mission was to test the long-term affects of the human body during the time of a lunar mission and to rendezvous two spacecraft in orbit. 

Image result for gemini 7 launch

1996: The Pathfinder Mars lander and its tiny rover the Sojourner was launched.

Image result for pathfinder sojourner launch

1998: STS-88 and its crew of 6 was launched into orbit on an ISS assembly mission.

Image result for sts-88 launch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

December 5

1997: STS-87 and its crew of 7 landed back at Cape Canaveral after a mission into orbit.

Image result for sts-87 landing

2001: STS-108 and its crew of 7 was launched on a 12 day ISS logistics mission. It docked with the station on December 7. The Raffaello logistics module was unloaded from the shuttle cargo bay on December 8 and docked to the Unity module. At the end of the mission on December 14, the Raffaello module was transferred back into the cargo bay. The shuttle undocked from the station on December 15, deployed a small satellite on December 16, and returned to Earth on December 17.

Image result for sts-108 launch

2014: Orion EFT-1 was launched. It was a Orion Crew Module with a dummy Service Module on top of a Delta IV heavylift booster. It boosted its orbit to make it the farthest crew-rated spacecraft since Apollo 17. It landed four hours after launch off the coast of Baja California and was recovered by the USS Anchorage.

   Image result for orion eft-1 launch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

December 6

1957: Vanguard 1A was launched. It was the first US orbital attempt. The three-stage Vanguard rocket failed to send the tiny probe into orbit.

Image result for vanguard 1a launch

1958: The Pioneer 3 was launched. It was an attempt to launch a small probe on a flyby trajectory of the Moon but failed to reach it.

1988: STS-27 and its crew of 6 landed back at Edwards AFB after a mission into orbit.

Image result for sts-27 landing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

December 7

1961: The Gemini spacecraft was announced. MSC Director Robert Gilruth described it as a two-manned Mercury capsule but bigger, two-three times heavier, and launched by a modified Titan II missile, but didn't address it by its name.

Image result for gemini spacecraft and rocket

1972: Apollo 17 and its crew of Cernan, Evans, and Schmitt. It was the final planned lunar landing. It was the first manned night launch by the US. It was placed into a parking orbit then completed the Trans-lunar Injection burn (TLI). It achieved lunar orbit on December 10. Cernan and Schmitt landed in the Taurus-Littrow valley on the Moon on December 11. The rover was unloaded and the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package was set up near the lander. The crew made three EVAs over the span of two days, the last being on December 13. The lander lifted off the Moon on December 14 after the crew rested and docked to the CSM in orbit. The spacecraft and the crew landed back at Earth on December 19.

Image result for apollo 17 launch

1995: The Galileo Jupiter probe injected itself into Jovian orbit by aerobraking into its atmosphere.

Image result for galileo spacecraft jupiter orbital insertion

1996: STS-80 and its crew of 5 landed back at Cape Canaveral after a mission into orbit.

Image result for sts-80 landing

2002: STS-113 and its crew of 7 landed back at Earth after a mission to the ISS.

Image result for sts-113 landing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

December 10

1950: A meteor fell to Earth in St. Louis, hitting a car.

Image result for st louis meteor car

1977: Soyuz 26 and its crew of 2 was launched into orbit on a mission to the Salyut 6 space station.

Image result for soyuz 26 launch

1980: Soyuz T-3 and its crew of 3 landed back at Earth after a mission to the Salyut 6 space station.

Image result for soyuz t-3 landing

1982: Soyuz T-7 and its crew of 2 landed back at Earth after a mission to the Salyut 7 space station.

Image result for soyuz t-7 landing

1984: A meteorite fell in Claxton and hit a mailbox.

Image result for claxton meteorite

1990: Soyuz TM-10 and its crew of 3 landed back at Earth after a mission to the Mir space station.

1992: A meteor called Mihonoseki fell in Japan through the roof of a house.

2006: STS-116 and its crew of 7 launched into orbit on a 13 day mission to the ISS. It docked to the station on December 11. It was to complete installation of the P5 truss, repair a solar wing, and activate a truss cooling system. 

Image result for sts-116 launch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

December 11

1990: STS-35 and its crew of 7 landed back at Earth after a mission into orbit.

Image result for sts-35 landing

1998: The Mars Climate Orbiter satellite was launched. It entered an elliptical polar orbit on September 23, 1999. It then had to aerobrake to lower the orbit by November 1999. The probe went too low in the atmosphere and burnt up.

Image result for mars climate orbiter launch

2000: STS-97 and its crew of 5 landed back at Earth after a mission to the ISS.

Image result for sts-97 landing

2002: The maiden flight of the Ariane 5 EC-A rocket was made to launch two European geosynchronous satellites Hotbird 7 and Stentor into orbit. The launch ended in failure.

Image result for ariane 5 ec-a maiden flight

December 12   v

Spoiler

December 12

1965: Gemini 6 aborted on the launchpad. The engines were shut off a second after ignition because an electrical umbilical connector separated.

Image result for gemini 6 abort

1972: The lunar crew of Apollo 17 made their first EVA.

1994: Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa died.

Image result for stuart roosa

2012: The first successful North Korean satellite launch of Kwangmyongsong-3F2. The spacecraft started tumbling after orbital insertion and the communications systems failed shortly after.

Image result for Kwangmyongsong-3F2

 

Edited by The Raging Sandwich
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...