This Day In Space History: August 2

1909

For $30,000 and designed by the Wright Brothers, the U.S. government purchases the first military airplane.

https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/day-first-us-military-airplane

1971

We have been following the lunar module Falcon for the past 2 days, and now, on their third day, Irwin and Scott leave the moon, in the first televised lunar liftoff.

http://www.yearinspace.com/the-week-in-space/180-august-2-2010-shining-a-light-on-dark-matter

1989

Voyager 2 is confirmed to have found three more of Neptune’s moons - Larissa (1989 N2), Despina (1989 N3), and Galatea (1989 N4).

http://www.floridatoday.com/videos/tech/science/space/2017/08/02/-date-nasa-history-august-2/104222326/

For a complete list of today’s Space History, see  http://www.astronautix.com/a/august02.html