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

This Day In Space History: August 18

1686

https://www.revolvy.com/topic/Neith%20(hypothetical%20moon)&uid=1575

Giovanni Cassini (1625-1712) sights what he believes is a natural satellite of Venus. The hypothetical moon is called Neith.

1868

https://www.wired.com/2009/08/dayintech_0818/
In his observation of the spectral lines of a solar eclipse in Guntur, India, French astronomer Pierre Janssen (1824-1907) discovers helium, recognizing that a wavelength didn't match that of any known element.

1960

Discoverer XIV, "the first successful low resolution photo surveillance spacecraft" (nasa.gov) is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. learn more here: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1960-010A

1976

http://www.onthisday.com/events/august/18

The Soviet spacecraft Luna 24 lands on the moon's surface, ten days after its launch.

1993

http://www.yearinspace.com/the-week-in-space

The first flight of the Delta Clipper (DC-X), a reusable spacecraft.

For a complete list of today’s Space History, see  http://www.astronautix.com/a/august18.html

This Day In Space History: August 9

Well, not much happened in the world of space today... here's what I could come up with...

1945

http://www.onthisday.com/events/august/9
Today was the day when, at the end of the second World War, the U.S. dropped its second atom bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, Japan. Another sad day in history.

1973

http://www.onthisday.com/events/august/9

The Soviet craft Mars 7 is launched off to Mars.

1976

https://www.space.com/37183-today-in-space.html

Luna 24, the last lunar mission, is launched by the USSR from Kazakhstan to return samples from the moon.

For a complete list of today’s Space History, see  http://www.astronautix.com/a/august09.html