CHRONOLOGY – DECEMBER 2007

3/21/06

60 Years Ago – 1947

Dec. 23: Transistor invented by Drs. John Burdeen, Walter H. Brattain, and William Shockley at AT&T.

50 Years Ago - 1957

Dec. 6: Vanguard (TV-3) failed to launch, exploded on the launch pad, 11:45 a.m., EST, ESMC.

Dec. 17: First successful firing of Atlas ICBM, ESMC.

45 Years Ago - 1962

Dec, 13: Relay 1 launched, 6:30 p.m., EST, ESMC

Dec. 14: Mariner 2 flew past Venus.

Dec. 16: Explorer 16 launched, 0:33 a.m., EST, WFF, VA

40 Years Ago - 1967

Dec. 13: Pioneer 8/TTS-1 launched, 9:08 a.m., EST, ESMC.

35 Years Ago - 1972

Dec. 11: Nimbus 5 launched, 2:56 a.m., EST, WSMC.

Dec. 20: Last flight of M2-F3 program, DFRF, CA.

15 Years Ago - 1992

Dec. 2: STS-53 (Space Shuttle Discovery) launched, 8:24 a.m., EST, KSC. Astronauts David M. Walker, Robert D. Cabana, Guion Bluford, Jr., James S. Voss, and Michael R. Clifford. Landed 3:43 p.m., EST, Dec. 9, EAFB CA. Final DoD mission. Mission duration: 7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes.

Dec. 8: Galileo, 2nd Earth Flyby.

5 Years Ago – 2002

Dec. 14: Adeos 2, also known as Midori 2 (“Green”), a Japanese (NASDA) remote sensing spacecraft. Launched by a H-2 rocket from Tanegashima Space Flight Center at 8:31 EST. It carried five instruments to monitor the global climate trends. Contact was lost on Oct. 25, 2003.

Dec. 29: Shenzhou 4 (meaning Divine Vessel), a Chinese (PRC) unmanned test satellite launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China by a Long March 2F rocket at 16:40 UT. It carried a retrievable crew module with all furnishings, test equipment, and dummy astronauts to assess its viability for a manned launch.