CHRONOLOGY – OCTOBER 2007

3/21/06

125 Years Ago – 1882

Oct. 5: Robert Goddard born in Worcester, Massachusetts.

65 Years Ago - 1942

Oct. 3: First successful V2 flight, Peenemunde, Germany

60 Years Ago - 1947

Oct. 14: X-l first supersonic flight, Capt. Charles E. Yeager, Edwards AFB, CA.

50 Years Ago - 1957

Oct. 4: Sputnik 1 launched, first earth satellite, 184 pounds, 22.8 inches in diameter, 1912 UT, Baikonur, USSR.

Oct. 11: First successful flight of Thor, ESMC.

45 Years Ago – 1962

Oct. 2: Explorer 14 launched, 6:ll p.m., EDT, ESMC.

Oct. 3: Mercury/Atlas 8, Sigma 7 launched, astronaut Wally Schirra,

8:15 a.m., EDT, ESMC.

Oct. 18: Ranger 5 launched, 11:59 a.m., EST, ESMC.

Oct. 22: Explorer 15 launched, 7:15 p.m., EDT, ESMC.

40 Years Ago - 1967

Oct. 3: Fastest X-15 flight, 4,520 mph, mach 6.7, pilot William J.

Knight, DFRF, CA.

Oct. 9: Lunar Orbiter 3 intentionally crashed on moon.

Oct. 11: Lunar Orbiter 2 intentionally crashed on moon.

Oct. 18: Venera 4 Landing on Venus

Oct. 18: OS0 4 launched, 11:58 a.m., EDT, ESMC.

35 Years Ago – 1972

Oct. 15: NOAA 2/0scar 6 launched, 1:19 p.m., EDT, WSMC.

Oct.27: Mariner 9 mission ended as attitude control gas exhausted.

30 Years Ago – 1977

Oct. 22: ISEE 1 & 2 launched, 19:53 a.m., EDT, ESMC.

25 Years Ago - 1982

Oct. 30: DSCS II & III launched, 2:05 a.m., EDT, ESMC. First use of Titan 34D and IUS launch vehicle and stage.

15 Years Ago - 1992

Oct. 22: STS-52 (Space Shuttle Columbia) launched from KSC at 1:09 p.m., EDT with astronauts Jim Wetherbee, Mike Baker, Charles Veach, Bill Shepherd, Tamara Jernigan, and Steve MacLean. Deployed LAGEOS II on Oct. 23, and CTA (Canadian Target Assembly) on Oct. 31 from cargo bay. Landed November 1, 1992, 9:05 a.m. EST at KSC.

Mission Duration: 9 days, 20 hours, 56 minutes.

10 Years Ago – 1997

Oct. 15: Cassini Launch (Saturn Orbiter) at 08:43 UTC from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station using a U.S. Air Force Titan IVB/Centaur launch vehicle.

5 Years Ago – 2002

Oct. 7: STS 112 (Space Shuttle Atlantis) launched from KSC at 3:46 p.m., EDT. Astronauts: Sandy Magnus and Dave Wolf, Pilot Pam Melroy, Jeff Ashby and Piers Sellers. Also cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. International Space Station (ISS) Flight 9A. Delivered S-1 (S-One) Truss. Landed on Oct. 18, 2002 at 11:44 a.m. EDT at KSC. Mission Duration: 10 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes.

Oct. 30: Russian Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur at 03:11 UT. The fourth Soyuz taxi flight, it carried a crew of two Russian cosmonauts (Sergei Zalyotin and Yuri Lonchakov), and one Belgian (Frank De Winne) to automatically dock with the International Space Station (ISS). This new Soyuz TMA-1 is a larger craft that has more comfortable space and ergonomic furniture than the previous TM models.