This Day In Space History: September 3

1968

https://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-4009/v4p2n.htm

The Apollo 8 readiness date is announced to have been changed to Dec. 13,1968, according to Program Director Samuel C. Phillips.

1976

Launched Sept. 9, 1975, Viking 2 made a soft landing on the surface of Mars in the crater Utopia Planitia, returning images of the soil (no evidence of life) and frost - contributing to the mission's provision of information about Mars' climate and its mapping of Mars' surface: "The Viking program provided the first up-close look at Mars" (space.com). 

This article gives much additional information about Viking 2 and includes links to the incredible images from the program: https://www.wired.com/2010/09/0903viking2-mars/

1985

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-51I.html

STS 51-I (Discovery 6) which was launched Aug. 27 (on its third attempt) returns to Earth at the Edwards Air Force Base after 7 days, 2 hours, 17 minutes, and 42 seconds.

1995

http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-tm22.htm

Members of the Mir-20 crew were launched on Soyuz TM-22 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the Mir space station where they would dock two days later and conduct experiments alongside with other crews.

2006

https://amp.space.com/21197-moon-crash-meteor-impact-explosion.html
Launched on Sept. 27, 2003, the ESA's high tech space probe, the first European craft to orbit the moon, Small Missions for Advanced Research and Technology (START 1) makes its controlled crash into the moon at 1:42 am EDT -just seconds within its predicted time.


For a complete list of today’s Space History, see  http://www.astronautix.com/s/september03.html

This Day In Space History: July 31

1959

The first animal couch-cabin was inspected in the Aeromedical Field Laboratory for the Mercury Project. Read more about it here.

1961

President Kennedy praises the decision for unions to avoid strikes and lockouts at Cape Canaveral, saying, “The Nation cannot afford … [a] delay in our missile and space program … [or] wasteful and expensive practices.”

1969

Spacecraft Mariner 6 flies by Mars and takes pictures of both of Mars’ polar caps.

1991

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) is negotiated between the U.S. and Soviet Union, signed by Bush and Gorbachev to reduce nuclear weapons.

1999

Spacecraft Lunar Prospector crashes, as planned, into the moon.

For a complete list of today’s Space History, see http://www.astronautix.com/j/july31.html