OTD…Aug. 7 and STS-85

#OTD in 1994, the launch of Columbia on the STS-62 microgravity research mission

NASA’s Kepler planet-finder began its mission to discover Earth-like worlds orbiting other stars in the galaxy today in 2009, successfully launching aboard a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral.

Scott Carpenter launched atop an Atlas rocket to become the second American to orbit the Earth today in 1962, flying for 4 hours and 39 minutes aboard Aurora 7 while making three revolutions of the globe.