OTD – Spaceflight Now

July 26, 1971: 45th anniversary of Apollo 15

July 26, 2016 Justin Ray

Dave Scott, Jim Irwin and Al Worden left for the Moon today in 1971 aboard Apollo 15 bound for Hadley rille with the first Lunar Roving Vehicle.

July 24, 1969: Apollo 11 returns home

July 24, 2016 Justin Ray

Apollo 11 splashed down in the Pacific today in 1969, fulfilling President Kennedy’s challenge to a nation of landing a man to the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.

July 20, 1969: Lunar landing of Apollo 11

July 20, 2016 Justin Ray

Mankind’s first landing on the Moon and stepping foot on the lunar surface occurred today in 1969 by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

July 20, 1976: Landing on the red planet

July 20, 2016 Justin Ray

Today marks the 40th anniversary — July 20, 1976 — of the first U.S. robotic landing on another planet by the Viking 1 spacecraft on Mars.

July 16, 1969: Launch of Apollo 11

July 16, 2016 Justin Ray

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins launched today in 1969 aboard Apollo 11 for one of the defining moments of the 20th century — man’s first landing on the moon.

July 15, 1975: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project launched

July 15, 2016 Justin Ray

American and Soviet crews were launched today in 1975 for the first handshakes in space between the two superpowers as part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

OTD…June 3, 1965 and the first American walk in space

June 3, 2016 Justin Ray

The flight of Gemini 4 launched today in 1965 for NASA’s first Extra Vehicular Activity spacewalk by Ed White on a four-day orbital mission with commander Jim McDivitt.

On this date…Crew launched to fix Skylab

May 25, 2016 Justin Ray

The first crew to inhabit Skylab — Conrad, Weitz and Kerwin — launched today in 1973 for a 28-day mission that successfully made critical repairs, brought the station into operation and conducted solar astronomy, Earth resources and medical experiments.

On this date…Second American in orbit

May 24, 2016 Justin Ray

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.

OTD…May 18 and launch of Apollo 10

May 18, 2016 Justin Ray

As a dress rehearsal mission for the moon landing, Apollo 10 launched today in 1969 with Cernan, Young and Stafford