This Day In Space History: August 22

1963

Joe Walker, a civilian test pilot for NASA, breaks the altitude world record at 354,200 feet in the X-15 rocket plane. This record remained unbroken until 2004. Read the article to find out why Walker didn't get his astronaut wings until after his death: https://theaviationist.com/2014/08/07/x-15-altitude-record/

1964

http://www.astronautix.com/a/august22.html

The Soviet Union's first communications satellite, Cosmos 41, is launched

1976

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/luna24.html
Luna 24 lands in Moscow after a 13-day mission and returned 170.1 grams of soil from the moon.

1989

Contrary to researchers' predictions and expectations,Voyager 2 detects a complete ring around Neptune. Read the original article from the LA Times here: http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-22/news/mn-1082_1_complete-ring




For a complete list of today’s Space History, see  http://www.astronautix.com/a/august22.html