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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1928.PDF
FLIGHT International, 31 October 1963 CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR NASA Date Jan 26 Feb 8 Feb 20 Mar i Mar 7 Mar 29 Apr 23 Apr 25 Apr 26 May 8 May 24 June 19 July 10 July 18 July 22 Aug 27 Aug 31 Sep 18 Sep 28 Oct 2 Oct 3 Oct 18 Oct 27 Nov 16 Dee 13 Dec 16 1963 Feb 14 Mar 28 Apr 2 May 7 May IS May 22 June 19 July 20 July 26 Aug 28 Name Ranger 3 Tiros 4 Friendship 7 Re-entry 080 1 P-21A probe Ranger 4 Saturn Ariel 1 Centaur Aurora 7 Tiros S Telstar 1 Echo (test) Mariner 1 Mariner 2 Re-entry Tiros 6 Alouette Explorer 14 Sigma 7 Ranger 5 Explorer 15 Saturn Relay Explorer 16 Syncom 1 Saturn Explorer 17 Telstar 2 Faith 7 Re-entry Tiros 7 Re-entry Syncom 2 Little Joe 2 General Mission Lunar lander Meteorological satellite Orbital manned Mercury flight Re-entry test Scientific satellite Scientific geoprobe Lunar lander Launch vehicle test Scientific satellite Launch vehicle test Orbital manned Mercury flight Meteorological satellite Communication satellite Suborbital com munications test Venus probe Venus probe Re-entry test Meteorological satellite Scientific satellite Scientific satellite Orbital manned Mercury flight Lunar lander Scientific satellite Launch vehicle test Communication satellite Scientific satellite Communication satellite Launch vehicle test Scientific satellite Communication satellite Orbital manned Mercury flight Re-entry flight demonstration Meteorological satellite Test of heat shield material Communication satellite Launch vehicle test Launch vehicle Atlas Agena B Delta Mercury- Atlas Scout Delta Scout Atlas- Agena B Saturn C-1 Delta Atlas- Centaur Mercury- Atlas Delta Delta Thor Atlas Agena B Atlas Agena B Scout Delta Thor-Agena B Delta Mercury- Atlas Atlas Agena B Delta Saturn C-1 Delta Scout Delta Saturn 1 Delta Delta Mercury- Atlas Scout Delta Scout Delta Little Joe 2 Launch site Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Wallops Canaveral Wallops Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Wallops Canaveral Arguello Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Wallops Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Canaveral Wallops Canaveral Wallops Canaveral White Sands Mission S • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • K • • • • • • 5 u • • • • • Remarks First Ranger attempt at Moon; Atlas over-accelerated ; missed Moon by 22,862 miles; gamma-ray sensor worked. Performed as planned. First US manned orbital flight (Glenn); three orbits. Re-entry speed lower than planned. Transmitted data on solar flares. Reached 3,910 miles. First US spacecraft to land on Moon; crashed on to Moon, timer failure causing loss of control over space craft; no midcourse correction, television, or lunar- capsule separation. First stage only. Project Highwater utilized dummy upper stages. First international satellite (UK-1); explored iono sphere. Centaur exploded before separation. Carpenter flight; three orbits. Orbit more elliptical than planned; infrared system failed prior to launch. First active communication satellite; owned by AT&T, launched by NASA. inflation successful; radar indicated sphere surface not as smooth as planned. Atlas deviated from course, was destroyed by Range Safety Officer. First spacecraft to scan another planet; passed 21,100 miles from Venus on Dec 14; extended space com munications record to 54.7 million miles. Tardy third-stage ignition; desired speed not achieved. Performed as planned. Ionosphere sounder satellite built by Canada. First NASA satellite launched from Pacific Missile Range. Energetic particles satellite; highly eccentric orbit. Schirra flight; six orbits; first astronaut recovery in Pacific. Payload, including midcourse guidance, did not function because spacecraft failed to get power from solar cells. Passed within 450 miles of the Moon. Difficult to analyse data from two of seven experi ments because of high spin rate. To study artificial radiation belt. First stage only; Project Highwater utilized dummy upper stages. First launch with uprated Delta. Power supply voltage originally too low for communications experiments; voltage built up and early in Jan 63 transatlantic TV transmissions began. Micrometeoroid satellite. First attempt for near-synchronous 24-hour orbit successful. Satellite transmitted data during launch, went silent in orbit, was lost until orbit was confirmed photographically March 4,1963. First programmed in-flight cut-off of one of eight engines in cluster; last of four first-stage flight tests. Atmospheric structure satellite. Measured density, composition, neutral particle temperature, and electron temperature of Earth's atmosphere. Active-repeater communication satellite; owned by AT&T, launched by NASA. Cooper flight; 22 orbits; final flight in Project Mercury. AEC mock-up nuclear reactor achieved desired speed and trajectory; telemetry lost during final re-entry phase. Two wide-angle TV cameras, infrared sensors, and electron temperature probe performed as planned. First-stage malfunction. First operating communication satellite placed in synchronous orbit. Qualify vehicle for Apollo test programme. S> successful; P, partial success; U9 unsuccessful 733 LAUNCH I NGS .. .
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