CHRONOLOGY APRIL 2008
3/21/06
80 Years Ago - 1928
Apr. 11: First manned rocket car tested by Fritz von Ope1 at
50 Years Ago - 1958
Apr. 25: First successful
launch and inflation in space of a sphere by NACA on Nike-Cajun rocket, WFF.
45 Years Ago - 1963
Apr. 2: Explorer 17 launched, 9:00 p.m.,
EST, ESMC. First in NASA sounding rocket program
when NASA launched 85 pound scientific payload to 208 mile altitude.
Apr. 2: Luna 4 Launch (Soviet Moon Flyby
40 Years Ago - 1968
Apr. 4:- Apollo 6 launched, 7:OO a.m.,
EST, KSC.
Apr. 7: Luna 14 Launch (Soviet Moon Orbiter)
35 Years Ago - 1973
Apr. 3: Salyut 2 launched, 0900 GMT, Baikonur.
Apr. 5: Pioneer 11 launched,
9:11 p.m., EST, ESMC. First
spacecraft to fly to Saturn.
First spacecraft to take close-up pictures of Saturn.
First spacecraft
to provide pictures of the polar regions of Jupiter.
Apr. 19: Intercosmos Copernicus 500
launched, 1020 GMT, Kapustin Yar.
Apr. 20: Anik 2 launched, 6:47 p.m.,
EST, ESMC.
30 Years Ago – 1978
Apr. 26: Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM/AEM-1) launched, 5:20
a.m. , EST, WSMC.
25 Years Ago – 1983
Apr. 4: STS-6 launched, 1:30 p.m., EST, KSC. Weitz, Bobko,
Peterson and Musgrave, TDRS-1 launched from STS-6 the same day.
First flight of the orbiter Challenger.
First
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite successfully deployed.
First space walk of Shuttle program [D.
Peterson & S. Musgrave].
First flight of
the lightweight external tank and lightweight solid rocket booster casings.
20 Years Ago – 1988
Apr. 25: SOOS 5 (Stacked Oscar on Scout) launched, 9:57 p.m., EDT,
WSMC. Dual satellites launched by NASA for the U.S.Navy.
15 Years Ago – 1993
Apr.: Using data from the
Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), scientists from the
Apr. 8: STS-56 (Shuttle Discovery) launched 1:29 a.m. EDT, KSC. Carried Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-2
(ATLAS-2). Astronauts Kenneth D. Cameron, Stephen S.
Oswald, C. Michael Foale, Kenneth D. Cockrell, and
Ellen Ochoa. Landed April 17, 1993, 7:37 a.m. EDT,
KSC.
First Hispanic female astronaut to fly in
space. [E. Ochoa]
Apr. 25: Array of Low Energy X-Ray Imaging Sensors (ALEXIS)
spacecraft launched. First all DoE sponsored
satellite.
Apr. 26: STS-55 (Shuttle Columbia) launched 10:50 a.m. EDT, KSC. Carried the second reusable German Spacelab, D-2. Astronauts
Steven R. Nagel, Terence T. Henricks, Jerry L. Ross,
Charles J. Precourt, Bernard A. Harris Jr., Ulrich
Walter, and Hans Schlegel. Landed May 6, 1993, 10:30 a.m.
EDT, Edwards AFB.
10 Years Ago – 1998
Apr. 1: Transition Region And Coronal
Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft launched to study the Sun's atmosphere.
Apr. 17: STS-90 launched April 17, 1998 2:19 p.m. EDT, KSC.
Carried Neurolab to study neurological and
behavioral changes in space. Astronauts Richard A. Searfoss, Scott D.
Altman, Richard M. Linnehan, Dafydd
Rhys Williams, Kathryn P. Hire, Jay C. Buckey, and
James A. Pawelczyk. Landed
May 3, 1998, 12:09 p.m. EDT, KSC.
Apr. 21: Cassini Venus Flyby.
Apr. 24: Globalstar 5-8 commercial
communications satellites launched.
5 Years Ago – 2003
Apr. 25: Expedition 7 International Space
Station Crew (ISS) -- First
American – (Ed Lu ) to launch as the Flight Engineer of a Soyuz spacecraft
(Soyuz TMA-2) [Ed Lu]. First American to launch and land on a
Soyuz Spacecraft. [Ed Lu]
Apr.
28: GALEX (GALaxy
Evolution eXplorer) – a NASA astronomy satellite
designed to explore the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars and heavy
elements using an onboard ultraviolet telescope. Launched at 12:00 UT on
28 April 2003 by a Pegasus XL rocket released from a
L-1011 cargo plane flying out of