OTD…April 17 and STS-90

The U.S. launched its first man into space on this date, May 5, 1961, as Alan Shepard rode the Freedom 7 capsule on a 15-minute suborbital flight to 116.5 miles in altitude and 303 miles downrange to splashdown.

#OTD in 1990…Discovery launched the Ulysses probe bound for the sun

Apollo 16 launched to the Descartes Highlands of the moon on this day in 1972 with John Young, Charlie Duke and Ken Mattingly.