OTD…Oct. 15 and Cassini

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…Gamma Ray Observatory launched in 1991 on Atlantis and Discovery’s 2010 ISS flight

#OTD in 1985…Challenger suffered an engine shutdown on her way to orbit for a Spacelab mission