CHRONOLOGY
– MAY 2008
3/21/06
60 Years Ago -
1948
May 14: First Bumper Wac
fired, first two stage rocket launched in western hemisphere. Rose 69.7 miles. Wac Corporal
reached 79.1 miles.
50 Years Ago -
1958
May 1: Van Allen radiation belts publicly announced, based on findings of Explorer 1 (launched January
31, 1958.
May 15 - Sputnik 3 launched, orbiting
geophysical observatory, 0712 GMT, Baikonur.
45 Years Ago –
1963
May 3: First
drop test of Project Apollo earth landing system using a boiler plate.
May 7: Telstar 2
launched, 7:38 a.m., EDT, ESMC.
May 15: Mercury/Atlas-9 (Faith 7),
astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper launched, 8:04 a.m., EST, ESMC. First
40 Years Ago –
1968
May 18: Nimbus launch
using a Thor-Agena 9. First NASA launch using long-tank Thor-Agena [U]. [SLC-2E]
35 Years Ago -
1973
May 14: Skylab 1 launched, 1:30 p.m., EDT,
KSC.
May 25:
Skylab 2 launched, astronauts Charles Conrad,
Jr., Paul J. Weitz, and Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin, 9:00 a.m., EDT, ESMC.
30 Years Ago -
1978
May 20: Pioneer Venus launched, 9:13 a.m.,
EDT, ESMC. First spacecraft placed in orbit around Venus.
25 Years Ago -
1983
May 19: Intelsat V F-6 launched, 6:26
p.m., EDT, ESMC.
5
Years Ago – 2003
May 9: Muses-C, renamed Hayabusa (meaning Falcon) after the launch, is a
Japanese (ISAS) asteroid explorer that was launched by an M-5 solid fuel rocket
from