CALENDAR: THIS WEEK
Important Anniversaries the next two weeks have been the subject of previous Items of the Week. To find them, CHECK THEM OUT (AGAIN) HERE.
Tuesday, December 10, is the 113th anniversary of the first all-flight trans-continental trip, by Calbraith Rodgers in his famous airplane, the Vin Fiz. For more about him, see here.
Tuesday, December 10, is also the 83rd anniversary of Colin Kelly winning a posthumous DFC for attacking the Japanese Philippine Landing Force. For more him and the dark days after Pearl Harbor, see here. Also included in the linked item: Henry Elrod, John Magee Jr., Jesus Villamor, Jimmu Doolittle, and Buzz Wagner.
Tuesday, December 10, is also the 61st anniversary of the crash of Chuck Yeager that starts “The Right Stuff.” He flew the third F-104 Starfighter delivered to the USAF to over 100,000’ where the aircraft went out of control. Yeager survived the ejection, but was hurt badly. For more on his illustrious exploits, see here and here.
Thursday, December 12, is the 83rd anniversary of Jesus Villamor’s victory over a Japanese bomber, one of the few victories scored with a P-26 Peashooter. For more on him and the P-26, see here.
Friday, December 13, is the 62nd anniversary of the launch of the Relay 1 communications satellite. For more on the utilization of near-Earth Space, see here.
Saturday, December 14, is the 478th birthday of astronomer Tycho Brahe. His observations (per-telescope!), especially of Mars, allowed Johannes Kepler to derive his famous Three Laws of Planetary Motion. For more on those early days of astronomy, see here.
Saturday, December 14, is also the 62nd anniversary of the first successful planetary fly-by mission (Mariner 2 at Venus) AND the 52nd of the last (for now) footprint being made on the Moon (Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan). For more about that amazing decade, see here.
Air and Space This Week
December 9, 2024 – December 15, 2024
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THE WEEK at a GLANCE Anniversaries: The 40th anniversary of the first test flight of the X-29A aircraft (12/14), 70th anniversary of Col. John Stapp’s first ride in the rocket sled (0-632 in 5 seconds, 12/10); 80th of the air crash that claimed the life of beloved band leader, Glenn Miller (12/15); and the 85th of the premiere of Gone with the Wind (12/15) Birthdays: Actress Teri Garr would have been 75 (12/11) and actor Christopher Plummer would have been 95 (12/13) In the Sky: Full Moon occurs at 4:02 AM EST on Sunday, December 15 (aka the “Cold Moon”) |
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Monday, December 9 Today in Air and Space History 1906: Admiral Grace Murray Hopper was born. She invented the COBOL programming language, contributed to the development of the ENIAC computer, and is (over) credited with coining the phrase "bug in the system." Destroyer DDG-70 is named in her honor. Other Events this Date: Benny Goodman’s first recording session was today (1926, at age 17, “When I First Met Mary,” with Ben Pollack and His Californians, which included a then-little-known Glenn Miller and future songwriter and musical director for Bing Crosby, Victor Young), The Who’s rock opera, Tommy, opened (1972) Today’s Birthdays: Poet John Milton (1608), clown Emmett Kelly (1898); comedian and inventor of the hilarious Cone of Silence, Buck Henry (1930); and football greats “Deacon” Jones (1938) and Dick Butkus (1942) |
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Tuesday, December 10 Today in Air and Space History 1911: Calbraith Rodgers completed the first transcontinental journey solely by aircraft, taking 84 days for the journey. 1941: B-17 pilot Colin Kelly won a DSC for attacking the Philippines landing force, but was over-credited with the sinking of a battleship. 1954: Col. JohnStapp performed the first of a series of rocket sled experiments designed to study supersonic ejection problems. His sled accelerated to 632 MPH in only 5 seconds, then was brought to a complete stop from that speed in only 1.5 seconds (= 20 g's!). 1963: The third F-104 delivered to the Air Force crashed during flight test. Famed pilot, Chuck Yeager, was at 108K’ when the aircraft went out of control. Yeager ejected after falling 100K’ and survived, though injured. Other Events this Date: Mississippi admitted to Union (1817), the first intercollegiate basketball game was played (1896; Wesleyan beat Yale 4-3; offense was apparently invented later) Today’s Birthdays: Educator Thomas Gallaudet (1787), poet Emily Dickinson (1830), newsman Chet Huntley (1911), and actor Dan Blocker (1928) |
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Wednesday, December 11 Today in Air and Space History 1863: Birthday of Annie Jump Cannon, expert classifier of stars based on their spectra. 1941: Cpt. Henry Elrod, defending Wake Island, sank destroyer IJN Kisaragi with two 100-pound bombs. He was KIA at Wake, and would eventually be recognized with a posthumous Medal of Honor. The cowl ring and other parts of this aircraft made their way to the Marine Corps Museum, with a brief visit to NASM en route. 1941: John Gillespie Magee Jr., an American serving with the RCAF and author of “High Flight,” was killed in a combat air collision. 1970: Launch of meteorological satellite NOAA-1, the first of a series of "ITOS," or "Improved TIROS" satellites. 1972:Apollo 17landed on the Moon at the Taurus-Littrow site. Other Events this Date: Indiana admitted to Union (1816), John D. Rockefeller donated land for UN headquarters in NYC (1946) Today’s Birthdays: Dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918), bluesy “Big Mama” Thornton (1926), actress Teri Garr (1949), and Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx (1958) |
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Thursday, December 12 Today in Air and Space History 1921: Harvard astronomer HenriettaLeavitt, discovererof the "period-luminosity relationship" for Cepheid variable stars, died this date. 1941: Cpt. Jesus Villamorshot down a Japanese bomber over the Philippines, one of the few air combat victories for the P-26 “Peashooter.” 1961: Launch of Oscar 1, the first satellite designed and built by private citizen, piggybacked on Discoverer 36. Its battery-powered 10 mW amateur radio transmitter operated in the 2-meter band. 1970: Launch of the Uhuru X-ray astronomical observatory satellite. Other Events this Date: Pennsylvania ratified the Constitution, becoming the 2nd State (1787), the Katzenjammer Kids debuted (1897) Today’s Birthdays: Singer Frank Sinatra (1915); barker Bob Barker (1923); Association keyboardist Terry Kirkman (1941); Moody Blues keyboardist Mike Pindar (1942); Dave Clark Five organist Mike Smith and Allman Brothers guitarist Dickie Betts (1943); and Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker (1946) |
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Friday, December 13 Today in Air and Space History 1962: Launch of the Relay 1communications satellite. 1967: Launch of Pioneer 8, on a mission to explore conditions in interplanetary Space. Other Events this Date: The Boston Redskins lost the NFL championship, then moved to DC (1936); Mars Attacks! premiered (1996) Today’s Birthdays: Guitarist Carlos Montoya (1903); and actors Van Heflin (1910), Dick Van Dyke (1925), and Christopher Plummer (1929) |
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Saturday, December 14 Today in Air and Space History 1546: Birthday of Tycho Brahe, pre-telescope observation expert. His catalog of positional data, particularly of Mars, allowed Johannes Kepler to derive what are now known as "Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion." Born in 1546, yet he has a "universal” website ... 1962:Mariner 2 flew by Venus, the first spacecraft to return data from the vicinity of another planet. 1972:Apollo 17astronaut Eugene Cernan became the last Human to walk on the Moon (for now!). 1984: First test flight of the distinctively-shaped X-29Aaircraft. Its swept-forward wing design gives terrific maneuverability, but is so inherently unstable that its pilot requires substantial computer assistance to fly it. Other Events this Date: Alabama admitted to Union (1819), Roald Amundsen reached South Pole first (1911), National Velvet premiered (1944) Today’s Birthdays: Aviator Jimmy Doolittle (1896), comedian Morey Amsterdam (1908), City SlickerSpike Jones (1911), and actress Patty Duke (1946) |
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Sunday, December 15 Today in Air and Space History 1944: Beloved bandleader Glenn Miller was lost when his small plane went down over the English Channel. No wreckage was found, and several theories (some plausible, some conspiratorial) have been advanced to explain the loss. 1965: Launch of Gemini 6, which performed the first real rendezvous in Space, with Gemini 7. 1970: Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 made the first planetary soft landing today, on Venus. It withstood the hellish surface conditions for 23 minutes. 1984: Launch of Vega 1, one of two Venus/Comet Halley fly-bys flown by the Soviet Union. 2003: The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum opened to the public. Other Events this Date: The Bill of Rights was ratified (1791), Gone with the Wind premiered (1939) Today’s Birthdays: DJ Alan Freed (1922), ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson (remember Farfel and Ftatateeta?; 1928), comedian Tim Conway (1933), and Clash bassist Paul Simonon (1955) In the Sky: Full Moon occurs at 4:02 AM EST (aka the “Cold Moon”) |
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NEXT WEEK at a GLANCE Anniversaries: The 25th anniversary of the launch of the Terra Earth reconnaissance satellite (12/18); the 35th of the first combat use of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter (12/19); the 40th of the launch of the Vega 2 spacecraft toward Venus and Halley’s Comet (12/21); the 60th of the first flight of the SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft (12/22); and the 80th of the Richard I. Bong’s 40th aerial victory, America’s top Ace (12/17) Birthdays: Tennis star Chris Evert is 70 (12/21); HoF punter Ray Guy is 75 (12/22); HoF pitcher Steve Carlton is 80 (12/22); actor Noel Coward would have been 125 (12/16); and dictator Joseph Stalin would have been 145 (12/21) In the Sky: The Moon reaches Last Quarter at 5:18 PM EST on Sunday, December 22 |