CHRONOLOGY – MARCH 2007

3/21/06

 

95 Years Ago -- 1912

Mar. 23: Dr. Wernher von Braun born, Wirsitz, Germany (now Part of Poland).

 

70 Years Ago -- 1937

Mar. 6: Valentina Nikolayevna Tereshkova born, Maslennikovo,

Yaroslavl Region, USSR.

 

60 Years Ago -- 1947

Mar. 7: First photograph taken from space from a V2 rocket 100 miles above White Sands, New Mexico.

 

55 Years Ago – 1952

Mar. 22: Colliers magazine published its first space symposium

under title: "Man Will Conquer Space Soon."

 

45 Years Ago – 1962

Mar.   7:  OS0 1 launched, 11:06 a.m., EST, ESMC.

Mar.  16: Cosmos 1 launched, 1200 UT, Kapustin Yar, USSR.

 

40 Years Ago – 1967

Mar.   8: OSO 3 launched, 11:12 a.m., EST, ESMC.

Mar.  22: Cosmos 150 launched, 1243 UT, Plesetsk, USSR.

Mar.  23: Intelsat II F-3 launched, 8:30 p.m., EST, ESMC.

 

35 Years Ago – 1972

Mar.  2: Pioneer 10 launched, 8:49 p.m., EST, ESMC.

Mar.  11: TD 1 (ESRO) launched, 8:55 p.m., EST, WSMC.

Mar.  27: Venus 8 launched, 0415 UT, Baikonur, USSR.

 

30 Years Ago – 1977

Mar.  10: Uranus  rings discovered.

Mar.  10: Palapa  2 launched, 6:16 p.m., EST, ESMC.

 

25 Years Ago – 1982

Mar. 4: Intelsat V F-4 launched, 7:24 p.m., EST, ESMC.

Mar. 22: STS 3 (Space Shuttle Columbia) launched, 11:00 a.m., EST,

KSC. Astronauts Jack R. Lousma and C. Gordon Fullerton. Continued testing of Space Shuttle systems for qualification for operational flights. Landed March 30, 11:05 a.m., EST, White Sands, N.M. Mission duration: 8 days, 4 minutes.

 

20 Years Ago – 1987

Mar. 20: Palapa B 2P Comsat launched, 5:22 p.m., EST, ESMC. Owned by Republic of Indonesia.

 

15 Years Ago – 1992

Mar. 14: Galaxy 5, a commercial communications spacecraft, was launched from Cape Canaveral by an Atlas rocket.

Mar. 24: STS-45 (Space Shuttle Atlantis) launched March 24 at 8:13 a.m. EST, KSC. Astronauts: Charles F. Bolden, Brian Duffy,Kathryn D. Sullivan, David C. Leestma, C. Michael Foale, Byron K. Lichtenberg, and Dirk D. Frimout. Carried first Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-1) on Spacelab pallets mounted in orbiter's cargo bay. Landed April 2, 1992, 6:23 a.m. EST, KSC. Mission duration: 8 days, 22 hours, 9 minutes.

 

5 Years Ago – 2002

Mar. 1: STS 109 (Space Shuttle Columbia) launched at 6:22 a.m. EST, KSC.  Astronauts: Scott D. Altman, Duane G. Carey, John M. Grunsfeld, Nancy J. Currie, James H. Newman, Richard M. Linnehan, and Michael J. Massimino. This is the fourth servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Landed March 12, 2002, 4:32 a.m. EST at KSC. Mission duration: 10 days, 22 hours, 11 minutes.

Mar. 1: ENVISAT 1, a European  Space Agency (ESA) environmental remote-sensing spacecraft was launched by an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou at 01:07 UT. Reported to be the most massive and expensive of the European satellites, it carried ten sensors to monitor global warming, the ozone hole and desertification.

Mar. 17: GRACE 1 and GRACE 2  (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment nick-named Tom and Jerry) are a pair of American-German, identical, satellites that were launched by a Rockot booster from Plesetsk at 09:21 UT. They aim to map the local gravitational mini-variations caused by sea-level changes, glacial motions, and seasonal melting/freezing of ice sheets.

Mar. 25: Shenzhou 3 (Divine Vessel 3) is a Chinese (PRC) "unmanned spaceship" that was launched by a Long March 2F rocket from Jiquan Space Launch Center in the northwestern Gobi desert at 14:00 UT on 25 March 2002. It consists of three modules: a propulsion section, a conical re-entry capsule, and an orbiter. The capsule was equipped with all that would be needed for a manned flight.