CHRONOLOGY – JANUARY 2008

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50 Years Ago – 1958

Jan. 4:- Sputnik 1 reentered.

Jan. 17:- Polaris First launched, ESMC.

Jan. 31: Explorer 1 launched, 10:48 p.m., EST, ESMC. First US satellite.

45 Years Ago - 1963

Jan. 4: Mariner 2 ceased transmitting data.

40 Years Ago - 1968

Jan. 7: Surveyor 7 launched, 10:48 p.m., EST, ESMC. Landed on the moon January 9.

Jan. 22: Apollo 5 launched, 5:48 p.m., EST, KSC, unmanned test. First Earth orbital test [robotic] of Apollo spacecraft Lunar Module [LM].

35 Years Ago - 1973

Jan. 8: Luna 21 launched, 0655 UT, Baikonur, USSR.

Jan. 16: Lunokhod 2 released from Luna 21 on moon's surface.

Jan. 30: US/USSR ASTP crewmembers announced, Washington,. D.C./Houston/Moscow.

30 Years Ago - 1978

Jan. 6 : Intelsat IV A F-3 launched, 7:15 p.m., ESMC.

25 Years Ago - 1983

Jan. 26: IRAS launched, 6:17 p.m., PST, WSMC. First Infrared Astronomical Satellite all-sky survey for objects that emit infrared radiation and provide a catalog of infrared sky maps.

15 Years Ago - 1993

Jan. 13: STS 54 (Shuttle Endeavour). Launched 8:59 a.m. EST, KSC.

First U. S. Military woman to fly in space -- Susan Helms.

10 Years Ago - 1998

Jan. 6: Lunar Prospector launched, 9:29 p.m.

Jan. 22: STS 89 (Shuttle Endeavour). Launched 9:48 p.m. EST, KSC.

5 Years Ago – 2003

Jan. 13: ICESAT (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) and CHIPS (Cosmic Hot Interstellar Spectrometer astrophysics spacecraft were both launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg AFB at 7:45 p.m. EST. ICESAT carries a single instrument, GLAS (Geoscience Laser Altimeter System) which enables accurate surface level measurements of ice sheets. CHIPS, a University-Class Explorer (UNEX) mission data will help scientists determine the electron temperature, ionization conditions, and cooling mechanisms of the million-degree plasma believed to fill the local interstellar bubble.

Jan. 16: STS-107 (Space Shuttle Columbia ) launch at 10:39 a.m. EST, KSC. Astronauts: Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon. As a research mission, the crew was kept busy 24 hours a day performing various chores involved with science experiments. KSC landing was planned for Feb. 1 after a 16-day mission but, Columbia and crew were lost during reentry over East Texas at about 9 a.m. EST, 16 minutes prior to the scheduled touchdown at KSC. Mission Duration: 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 22 seconds.

First Israeli astronaut to fly in space - Ilan Ramon.

Jan. 25: SORCE (SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment) Sun-Earth Connection satellite that was launched at 20:13 UT by a Pegasus XL rocket released from a L-1011 cargo aircraft flying out of Cape Canaveral. It provides state-of-the-art measurements of incoming x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and total solar radiation. The measurements specifically address long-term climate change, natural variability and enhanced climate prediction, and atmospheric ozone and UV-B radiation.