CALENDAR: THIS WEEK

IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARIES

Past Items of the Week

Tuesday, January 21, is the 61st anniversary of the launch of the Relay 2 communications satellite. Wednesday, January 22, is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Landsat 2. Saturday, January 25, is the 61st anniversary of the launch of Echo 2. For more on the utilization of Space, especially Low-Earth Orbit, see here.

Tuesday, January 21, is also the 38th anniversary of Lois McCallin’s record human-powered flight, covering 9.6 miles in 37.6 minutes. For more on human-powered flight, see here.

Thursday, January 23, is the 80th anniversary of the daring penetration of Namkwan Harbor by the submarine USS Barb, a feat that would earn skipper Eugene Fluckey one of the seven Medals of Honor awarded to WWII sub captains. Fluckey would later conduct the first-ever sub-to-shore rocket bombardment, and even sent a party ashore to blow up a train! For more information about the Barb’s exploits, see here.

Friday, January 24, is the 224th anniversary of the observations by Guiseppe Piazzi of the asteroid 1 Ceres, now enjoying “Dwarf Planet” status. For more about Piazzi and Ceres, see here; for more about the DAWN mission to Ceres and why it is no longer considered an “asteroid,” see this installment’s Item of the Week.

Friday, January 24, is also the 118th anniversary of aviation pioneer Glenn Hammond Curtiss setting a motorcycle (bicycle with a V-8) speed record, 136+ MPH! Sunday, January 26, is the 113th anniversary of Curtiss flying the first-ever hydroplane, which he invented. For more about Curtiss, an amazing inventor, pilot, and all-round speed demon, see here.

Friday, January 24, is also the 39th anniversary of the fly-by of Uranus by Voyager 2, still the only spacecraft to return data from near the seventh planet. For more about Uranus, see here.

Saturday, January 25, is also the 79th anniversary of the first test-glide flight of the Bell XS-1, which as the X-1, would be Chuck Yeager’s famous ride to be the first to break the “sound barrier.” For more about all that, see here.

Air and Space The Next Three Weeks

January 27, 2025 – February 16, 2025

THE NEXT THREE WEEKS at a GLANCE

Anniversaries: The 15th anniversary of the launch of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (2/11); 25th of the launch of STS-82, carrying the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission; 35th of the opening of the first McDonald’s in the USSR (1/31), a Venus gravity assist that helped send Mariner 10 to Mercury (2/10), Nelson Manela’s release from prison (2/11), and Voyager 1 taking the Solar System “Family Portrait” photograph; the 95th of the crash of the Navy dirigible USS Macon, in Monterrey Bay (2/12); and the 100th of the signing of the Kelly Act, which allowed private companies to carry air mail, a boon to commercial aviation (2/2).

Birthdays: Author John Grisham (2/9) and comedian Arsenio Hall (2/12) are 70; actress Morgan Fairchild (2/3), singer Natalie Cole (2/6) and Genesis’ Peter Gabriel (2/13) are 75; actress Mia Farrow is 80 (2/9); news anchors Tom Brokaw (2/6) and Ted Koppel (2/8) are 85; singer/Congressman Sono Bono would have been 90 (2/16); actor Gene Hackman is 95 (1/30); actress Dorothy Malone (1/30) and actor Jack Lemmon (2/8) would have been 100; and nuclear Navy Admiral Hyman Rickover would have been 125 (1/27)

In the Sky: New Moon occurs at 7:36 AM EST on Wednesday, January 29; the Moon reaches First Quarter at 3:02 AM EST on Wednesday, February 5; and Full Moon occurs at 8:53 AM on Wednesday, February 12 (aka the “Snow Moon”)

Monday, January 27

Today in Air and Space History

1939: First test flight of the LockheedP-38 "Lightning" fighter.

1943:First U.S. bombing raid on German soil in WWII, a mission to Wilhelmshaven, led by Gen Frank A. Armstrong, Jr.

1967:Apollo 1astronauts Edwin White, "Gus" Grissom, and Roger Chaffee were killed in a flash fire during a capsule test.

Other Events This Date: Edison patented the incandescent light (1880), the National Geographic Society was incorporated (1888), eponym-iferous (?) plumbing innovator Thomas Crapper died (1910, and no, he was not accorded the “goldfish treatment”), Otis Redding released (Sittin’ on the) Dock of the Bay (1968), Michael Jackson’s hair caught fire during commercial filming (1984)

Today’s Birthdays: Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756), author Lewis Carroll (1832), unionist Samuel Gompers (1850), admiral Hyman Rickover (1900), publisher William Randolph Hearst (1908), bandleader “Skitch” Henderson (1918), actor Troy Donahue (1936), and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason (1944)

Tuesday, January 28

Today in Air and Space History

1986: Space Shuttle Challenger, STS-51L, exploded during launch due to failed O-ring seals in one of its solid rocket boosters, killing all seven astronauts aboard, including "Teacher in Space" Christa McAuliffe.

Other Events this Date: The Carnegie Institution was founded (1902), the Brooklyn Dodgers hired famed clown Emmett Kelly to entertain fans (insert your own joke here, 1957)

Today’s Birthdays: Africa explorer Sir Henry Stanley (1841), author Susan Sontag (1933), actor Alan Alda (1936), Manfred Mann / Chambers Brothers drummer Brian Keenan (1944), dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948), and ‘N Sync performer Joey Fatone (1977)

Wednesday, January 29

Today in Air and Space History

1964: Successful fifth launch of the Saturn I first stage; first time with a "live" second stage.

1989: Successful insertion of the Soviet Phobos 2 spacecraft into Mars orbit; it would fail soon thereafter.

Other Events this Date: Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven was first published (1845), Kansas was admitted to Union as 34th State (1861), first players were elected to Baseball Hall of Fame (1936)

Today’s Birthdays: Revolutionary pamphleteer Thomas Paine (1737), playwright Anton Chekhov (1860), comedian W.C. Fields (1880), singer/songwriter Leadbelly (1885), actors Victor Mature (1913) and John Forsythe (1918), author Germaine Greer (1939), and talk show host Oprah Winfrey (1954)

In the Sky: New Moon occurs at 7:36 AM EST

Thursday, January 30

Today in Air and Space History

1948:Orville Wright died in hometown Dayton, Ohio, at age 76.

1958:Ernst Heinkel, German warplane designer, died this date.

1964: Launch of Ranger 6, a lunar hard lander. Its camera system would fail before it successfully crashed on the Moon on 2 Feb.

Other Events this Date: Congressmen Lyon and Griswold fought in the House (1798), Mahatma Gandhi was murdered (1948), The Beatles’ made their final public appearance (1969; less than five years after their first Ed Sullivan Showappearance on 9 Feb 1964)

Today’s Birthdays: President Franklin Roosevelt (1882); Krupa trumpeter “Little Jazz” Eldridge (1911); comedian Dick Martin (1922); actors Dorothy Malone (1925), Gene Hackman (1930), and Vanessa Redgrave (1937); and Genesis singer Phil Collins (1951) 

Friday, January 31

Today in Air and Space History

1862: Sirius B, the white dwarf companion to the brightest star in the Earth's sky, was discovered while testing an 18" Clark refractor. A myth has arisen that the Dogon, an ancient tribe of Mali without access to a powerful telescope, had prior knowledge of Sirius B.

1958: The United States officially entered the "Space Age" following the successful launch of satelliteExplorer 1.

1961: "Ham," a chimpanzee (Holloman Aerospace Medical Center), survived a test flight aboard a Mercurycapsule.

1966: Launch of Soviet spacecraft Luna 9, which would become the first successful soft-landing on another planetary body (the Moon).

1971: Launch of the Apollo 14 Moon mission to the Fra Mauro region, with astronauts Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, and Stuart Roosa.

Other Events this Date:The Green Hornet radio show premiered (1936), the first McDonald’s opened in the Soviet Union (1990)

Today’s Birthdays: Pioneering baseballer Jackie Robinson (1919), actress Carol Channing (1921), and HoF pitcher Nolan Ryan (1947)

Saturday, February 1

Today in Air and Space History

1961: First flight of a Minuteman ICBM. The test of all three solid-fuel stages was fully successful.

1963: The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics was founded.

2003:The Space Shuttle Columbia, STS-107, damaged by tank insulation detached during launch, broke up during re-entry, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

Other Events this Date: The 45 RPM record was introduced (1949), “Judy in Disguise” hit #1 for John Fred & His Playboy Band (1968)

Today’s Birthdays: Director John Ford (1894), actor Clark Gable (1901), SNL comedian Garrett Morris (1937), actor Sherman Hemsley (1938), Monty Python’s Terry Jones (1942), outfielder Paul Blair (1944), and actor Billy Mumy (“Danger Will Robinson!” 1954)

Sunday, February 2

Today in Air and Space History

1925: President Coolidge signed the Kelly Act, allowing private companies to carry airmail, stimulating the commercial aviation industry. 

1974: First "official" flight of the General Dynamics YF-16, prototype test model of the F-16 fighter.

Other Events this Date: Samuel Clemens adopted the pen name, “Mark Twain” (1863), the first Groundhog Day was observed (1887), dancer Gene Kelly passed away (1996)

Today’s Birthdays: Author James Joyce (1882), “Pappa Da Bears” George Halas (1895), comedian Gale “Mr. Mooney” Gordon (1906), sax man Stan Getz (1927), comedian Tom Smothers (1937), Tornados guitarist Alan Caddy (1940), CSNY musician Graham Nash (1942), Shondells drummer Peter Lucia and poster star Farrah Fawcett (1947), Journey bassist Ross Valory (1949), and model Christie Brinkley (1954)

Monday, February 3

Today in Air and Space History

1928: The first airplane, the Wright Flyer, began its twenty year stay in England's South Kensington Museum.

1944: Marine ace “Butcher Bob” Hanson was shot down and killed while strafing; he was later awarded the MoH posthumously.

1984: Launch of STS-41B Space Shuttle Challenger, which featured the first untethered spacewalks, using the MMU

1994: Launch of STS-60 Space Shuttle Discovery on the first Wake Shield Facilitymission.

1995: Launch of STS-63 Space Shuttle Discovery on a mission to rendezvous with space station Mir.

Other Events this Date: The Ames Brothers hit #1 with “Rag Mop” (1950), Buddy Holly, “Big Bopper” Richardson, and Richie Valens died in plane crash (“The Day the Music Died,” 1959) [BTW: The crash was announced in the media before the victims’ families had been notified. The resulting trauma led to today’s “no announcement pending notification of next of kin” policy in all such cases.]

Today’s Birthdays: Artist Norman Rockwell (1894), author James Michener (1907), Batman villain Victor “King Tut” Buono (1938), Kinks vocalist Dave Davies (1947), actress Morgan Fairchild (1950), and outfielder Fred Lynn (1952)

Tuesday, February 4

Today in Air and Space History

1961: Sputnik 7 was placed in Earth orbit. The Soviet Union would later reveal this was a failed Venus probe.

1966: First images from the lunar surface, from Luna 9, were returned to Earth.

1967: Launch of Lunar Orbiter3.

1993: Russian scientists experimented with the second of three Znamyaspace mirrors, the first "solar sails" ever deployed.

Other Events this Date: The first Winter Olympics were held (Lake Placid, 1932), John Madden became coach of the Oakland Raiders (1969), The Village People’s “YMCA” topped the Pop Charts (1979)

Today’s Birthdays: Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh (1902), golfer Byron Nelson (1912), brave Rosa Parks (1913), Animals drummer John Steel (1941), Fifth Dimension singer Florence LaRue (1944), entertainer/golfer/softball coach Alice Cooper (1948), boxer Oscar de la Hoya (1973)

Wednesday, February 5

Today in Air and Space History

1926: S.A. Reed won the 1925 Collier Trophy for developing the first practical metal propeller. The Institute for the Aeronautical Sciences now awards the "Sylvanus A. Reed Award" annually for scientific contributions to aeronautics (see presentation photo in this listing, on page 27)

1971:Apollo 14's Lunar Module ("Antares") landed successfully at Fra Mauro with astronauts Shepard and Mitchell. The astronauts accomplished many tasks, but Al Shepard still got in a moment to hit a couple of golf balls…

1974:Mariner 10 made a close flyby of Venus, en route to three fly-bys of Mercury, the first time a spacecraft used one planet's gravity to "slingshot" it towards another planet.

Other Events this Date: Glenn Miller recorded Tuxedo Junction (1940), the Shirelles hit #1 with Carole King’s Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1961)

Today’s Birthdays: Hammerin’ Hank Aaron (1934), and quarterback Roger Staubach and Three Dog Night vocalist Cory Wells (1942)

In the Sky: The Moon reaches First Quarter at 3:02 AM EST

Thursday, February 6

Today in Air and Space History

1959:First launch of the Titan booster.

Other Events this Date: Massachusetts became the sixth State (1788), the surviving Beatles (separately) recorded a tribute in memory of John Lennon (1981)

Today’s Birthdays: Notorious Aaron Burr (1756), larger-than-life Baltimore native “Babe” Ruth (1895), newscaster Tom Brokaw (1940), and singers Fabian (1943) and Natalie Cole (1950)

Friday, February 7

Today in Air and Space History

1984: The first non-tethered spacewalk was made by U.S. astronaut Bruce McCandless II, using the Manned Maneuvering Unit.

1999: Launch of Stardust, a spacecraft designed to capture material released by Comet Wild 2 and return it to Earth for analysis.

2001: Launch of STS-98 Space Shuttle Atlantis on a mission to deliver the Destiny laboratory module to the ISS.

Other Events this Date: Disney’s Pinocchio premiered (1940), the Beatles arrived at NYC on their first visit to the US (1964), first pubic performance by the California Guitar Trio (1991)

Today’s Birthdays: Sir Thomas More (1478), authors Charles Dickens (1812) and Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867), composer Eubie Blake (1883), author Sinclair Lewis (1885), swimmer Buster Crabbe (1908), and comedian Chris Rock (1966)

Saturday, February 8

Today in Air and Space History

1933: First flight of the Boeing 247, an early transport aircraft. Its success led to competitors, notably the DC-3.

1969: Observed fall of the Allende carbonaceous chondrite meteorite (a rare and scientifically-important type) at Pueblito de Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico. Almost two tons were recovered; Allende is probably the most-studied meteorite in existence.

1974: The finalSkylabmission ended with the return to Earth of SL-4astronauts Gibson, Carr, and Pogue after 84 days in orbit.

Other Events this Date:Stars and Stripes began publication (1918), the Congressional “payola” investigation began (1960

Today’s Birthdays: Visionary author Jules Verne (1828); actors Lana Turner (1921), Jack Lemmon (1925), and James Dean (1931); composer John Williams (1932); newsman Ted Koppel (1940); author John Grisham (1955); and actor Gary Coleman (1968)

Sunday, February 9

Today in Air and Space History

1936: General Billy Mitchell, famed for his advocacy of naval airpower, died this date at age 55. 

1963: First flight of a Boeing 727 jetliner. Many of the 1831 727's built are still in service.

1971:Apollo 14 returned to Earth, after the third successful Moon landing, to enter quarantine, the last Moon crew to have to do so.

1972: First flight of the Boeing EC-137D, which would eventually enter service as the E-3 AWACS aircraft.

Other Events this Date: U.S. Weather Bureau established (1870), 73+ million saw the Beatleson the Ed Sullivan Show (1964)

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Carmen Miranda (1909), entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee and baseball impresario Bill Veeck (1914), newsman Roger Mudd (1928), golfer Jo Ann Prentice (1933), songwriter Carole King (1942), and actresses Mia Farrow (1945) and Judith Light (1949)

Monday, February 10

Today in Air and Space History

1941: "Operation Colossus," the first Allied airborne assault of WWII, was attempted by the British in Italy. The attack failed; all 38 participating paratroops were captured.

1976:Pioneer 10, the first spacecraft to visit Jupiter, crossed the orbit of Saturn, at the time the most distant human-made artifact. Contact with Pioneer 10 would be maintained until April 27, 2002, more than 30 years after its 1972 launch!

1990: The Galileospacecraft, en route to Jupiter, swung by Venus for a gravitational “slingshot” assist. 

1994: The first female U.S. combat pilot, an F-15E driver named Jeannie Flynn (Leavitt), completed flight training.

Other Events This Date:U-2pilot Francis Gary Powers was exchanged (1962), 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ratified (1967)

Today’s Birthdays: Author Boris Pasternak (1890), actors Jimmy Durante (1893), Lon Chaney (1906), and Robert Wagner (1930), Ventures founding member guitarist Don Wilson (1937), and Ventures guitarist/bassist Bob Spaulding (1947)

Tuesday, February 11

Today in Air and Space History

1984: First Space Shuttle landing (Challenger, STS-41B) at Kennedy Space Center (as opposed to Edwards AFB).

1997: Launch of STS-82 Space Shuttle Discovery on the second Shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope

2000: Launch of STS-99 Space Shuttle Endeavour, carrying the Shuttle RadarTopography Mission.

2010: Launch of the Solar Dynamics Observatorysatellite.

Other Events this Date: German battleships’ famed “Channel Dash” (1942), Nelson Mandela released after 27 years in prison (1990)

Today’s Birthdays: Famed inventor Thomas Edison (1847), actresses Eva Gabor (1919), Tina Louise (1934) and Jennifer Aniston (1969)

Wednesday, February 12

Today in Air and Space History

1935: Crash of the aircraft-carrying USN dirigible Macon, ZRS-5, offMonterey, California.

1947: Observed fall of the 23+-ton Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite in Siberia.

1949: Thousands of residents of Quito, Ecuador were panicked when the local radio station performed a dramatic presentation of The War of the Worlds (a la Welles in 1938). An enraged mob torched the radio station; tragically, a number of people died in the ensuing confusion (the fire department was out chasing “Martians”).

1961: Russia scored two important "firsts": Spacecraft Venera 1 became the first to be launched from a space vehicle already in Earth orbit and would later become the first to fly by another planet (Venus; however, radio contact was lost before the fly-by took place).

2001: The NEAR Shoemakerspacecraft (nee Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous), after orbiting asteroid 433 Eros for almost one year, actually landed and returned data.

Other Events this Date: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was first performed (1924), Ragtime piano great Eubie Blake passed away (1983)

Today’s Birthdays: Scientist Charles Darwin and President Abraham Lincoln (1809), actors Lorne Greene (1915) and Forrest Tucker (1919), basketball great Bill Russell (1934), Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek (1939), and actor/comedian Arsenio Hall (1955)

In the Sky: Full Moon occurs at 8:53 AM (aka the “Snow Moon”)

Thursday, February 13

Today in Air and Space History

1923: Famed pilot ChuckYeager was born (1923); see also here.

Other Events this Date: First military action to be ultimately recognized with a Congressional Medal of Honor, by Army surgeon Bernard Irwin (1861, at Apache Pass, Arizona Territory, in action against Cochise; the Army’s Ft. Irwin in California was not named for him but rather his son, George LeRoy Irwin, a WWI artillery brigadier); Strauss’ Blue Danube was first performed (1867)

Today’s Birthdays: Jazz band leader “Wingy” Manone (1900), Monkee Peter Tork (1942), and Genesis singer Peter Gabriel (1950)

Friday, February 14

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

[Don’t Forget!!]

Today in Air and Space History

1953: The Bell X-1A (sister to the “Glamorous Glennis”) made its first test flight, with "Skip" Ziegler at the controls.

1972: Launch of Luna 20, one of three successful Russian robotic sample return missions to the Moon.

1990: Spacecraft Voyager 1 took its famous "family portrait" of the planets of the Solar System.

Other Events this Date: Captain James Cook was killed in Hawaii (1779); Oregon, Arizona were admitted to Union as 33rd , 48th states (1859, 1912); St. Valentine’s Day massacre, penicillin was discovered (1929); Battle of Sidi Bou Zid (one of the Kasserine Pass battles;1943)

Today’s Birthdays: Frugal comedian Jack Benny (1894), famed test pilot Tony LeVier (1913), TV mom Florence Henderson (1934), and journalist Carl Bernstein (1944)

Saturday, February 15

Today in Air and Space History

1946: Howard Hughes piloted a Lockheed "Constellation" in the inauguration of TWA's non-stop service between LA and NYC.

2013: A meteor hit near Chelyabinsk Russia causing minor damage, but if had been a mere 50 years earlier and a little closer to Moscow….

Other Events this Date: The USS Maineexploded in Havana harbor (1898), Duke Ellington recorded Take the A Train (1941), singer Nat King Cole passed away (1965), boxer Leon Spinks defeated Muhammad Ali in a split decision (1978), singer Ethel Merman passed away (1984)

Today’s Birthdays: Inventor Cyrus McCormick (1809), jeweler Charles Tiffany (1812), suffragist Susan B. Anthony (1820), comedian Harvey Korman (1927), Santana bassist David Brown (1947), actress Jane Seymour (1951), and cartoonist Matt Groening (1954)

Sunday, February 16

Today in Air and Space History

1948:Gerard Kuiper discovered Miranda, the fifth moon of Uranus.

1961: Launch of satellite Explorer 9 atop the first successful use of the four-stage, solid-fuel Scout missile (from Wallops).

1961: Unsuccessful launch of Discoverer 20. The "Discoverer" satellites were really the "cover" for the "Corona" spy satellite program.

1965: Launch of SA 9/Pegasus 1, a test mission for Project Apollo. Pegasus 1 measured meteoroid impact hazard in near-Earth orbit.

Other Events this Date: Lt. Stephen Decatur led an attack party ”to the shores of Tripoli,” where they sank a captured U.S. frigate (1804), archaeologist Howard Carter opened King Tut’s tomb (1923), nylon was patented (1935), What’s My Line? premiered (1950), jazzman Theolonius Monk passed away (1968)

Today’s Birthdays: Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (1903), singer/Congressman Sonny Bono (1935), actor LeVar Burton (1957), and tennis player John McEnroe (1959)

NEXT WEEK at a GLANCE

Anniversaries: The 45th USA Olympic Hockey Teams “Miracle on Ice (2/22); 70th of Bell winning the contract for a helicopter that became the UH-1 Iroquois (aka “Huey, 2/23); 80th of the invasion of Iwo Jima, needed for an emergency bomber airfield for the B-29 (2/19); and the 95th of Clyde Tombaugh’s discovery of Pluto (2/18)

Birthdays: Actress Cybill Shepherd (2/18) and basketballer Julius Irving (2/22) are 75; singer Smokey Robinson is 85 (2/19); actor George Kennedy would have been 100 (2/18); and TV host Bill Cullen would have been 105 (2/18)

In the Sky: The Moon reaches Last Quarter at 12:32 PM EST on Thursday, February 20