The request for a proposal on the Little Joe II test launch vehicle was submitted to bidders by a letter from MSC, together with a Work Statement. Five launches, which were to test boilerplate models of the Apollo spacecraft command module in abort situations, were called for: three in 1963 and two in 1964. Additional Details: here....

Over Atlantic. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 28 deg W in 1965; 38 deg W in 1965-1966. As of 27 July 2001 located at 92.54 deg W drifting at 0.324 deg W per day. As of 2007 Jan 13 located at 47.74W drifting at 0.017E degrees per day.

Kamanin, the DOS crews, and 40 VVS specialists fly to Tyuratam. VVS medical officers have to battle outbreaks of measles, rabies, and dysentery at the cosmodrome. The crews are medically isolated in the Hotel Kosmonavt. In the evening they watch the film '300 Spartans'.

NASA's Atlas/Centaur was launched from Cape Canaveral carrying Pioneer 11 (Jupiter-Saturn). This was the first SLV-3D Atlas booster (vehicle 5011D), and the first SLV-3 to use the new 370,000-pound thrust MA-5 booster package for improved payload performance. Jupiter flyby December 1974; Saturn flyby September 1979. Solar system escape trajectory. Pioneer 11 was the second mission to investigate Jupiter and the outer solar system and the first to explore the planet Saturn and its main rings. Pioneer 11, like Pioneer 10, used Jupiter's gravitational field to alter its trajectory radically. It passed close to Saturn and then it followed an escape trajectory from the solar system. During its closest approach, December 4, 1974, Pioneer 11 passed to within 34,000 km of Jupiter's cloud tops. It passed by Saturn on September 1, 1979, at a distance of 21,000 km from Saturn's cloud tops. The spacecraft has operated on a backup transmitter since launch. Instrument power sharing began in February 1985 due to declining RTG power output. Science operations and daily telemetry ceased on September 30, 1995 when the RTG power level was insufficient to operate any experiments. As of the end of 1995 the spacecraft was located at 44.7 AU from the Sun at a nearly asymptotic latitude of 17.4 degrees above the solar equatorial plane and was heading outward at 2.5 AU/year. Routine tracking and project data processing operations were terminated on March 31, 1997 for budget reasons.

Atlas 73F was launched from Vandenberg and was the first mission in the Trident Supplemental Flight Test program (SFT-1), designated HAVE FLY. Managed by SAMSO's Deputy for Reentry Systems (RS), this reentry vehicle research and development program was conducted for the Navy's Strategic System Program Office (SSPO). The SFT missions were for the Trident missile system and were part of the joint-service Advanced Ballistic Reentry System (ABRES) program.

A balloon carrying two mosaic sensors was launched from Holloman AFB, New Mexico, as part of the Balloon Altitude Mosaic Measurements program. When the balloon was only six feet off the ground, a shaft broke and allowed the payload to fall to earth, thus bringing the flight to a premature end.

Manned five crew. First repair on orbit of a satellite, Solar Maximum Mission, by James van Hoften and George Nelson. Deployed LDEF. Payloads:Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) repair, manned maneuvering unit (MMU) satellite support, deployment of Long-Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) in earth orbit free drift. LDEF contained 57 experiments and weighed about 10,000 kg. Cinema 360 and IMAX 70-mm cameras.

On 9.04.1995 at 2133 UTC this freighter will be launched from Baykonur for a flight to the Mir-space station. If all goes according to plan the ship will dock at the for ward (P.Kh.O.) port on 11.04.1995 at abt 2058 UTC. Approach and docking will be in the automatic mode by the system Kurs. The captain of Mir is ready to take over manually by the TORU system in case of problems during the automatic approach.

ALTERATIONS:

During the Mir's pass over here during orb. 52158, on 5.04.95 TsUP informed the crew about some alterations of the recent planning: 1. Immediately after the arrival of Progress-M27 the cosmonauts will have to work on the gyrodynes. This on request by the Americans. In their opinion the complex needs 12 well functioning gyrodynes. This means that the first EVA planned for 28.04.95 will be put back to the beginning of May, possibly to 1.05.95. 2. The launch of the module Spektr on schedule for 10.05.95 has been put back to 20.05.95. One of the causes of this delay is the installation of equipment on Spektr to make the use of the system TORU by the Mir-crew possible if during the docking operation the automatic system Kurs fails. 3. Though not confirmed thus far the delay of the launch of the Spektr might also put back the launch date of the Atlantis for the docking mission by appr. 10 days.

GFZ-1: Progress-M27 also has to deliver to the Mir-complex the normal cargo (food, fuel, water, spare parts, experiments, etc.) a small satellite named GFZ-1. GFZ-1 is a spherical satellite with a mass of 20 KG and a diameter of appr. 20 CM. GFZ-1 has been constructed by the German firm Kayser-Threde (Munchen) and will be used by the Geoforschungszentrum Potzdam for geodetic experiments by laser reflectors. GFZ-1 makes it possible to deliver highly accurate measurements of the Earth's gravitation field. Shortly the Mir-crew will launch GFZ-1 for its autonomous flight of appr. 2 years.

Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202

Unmanned resupply vessel to Mir. It carried supplies for the Mir station and repair equipment for Mir's oxygen generators, replacement oxygen-generating 'candles' and a pair of new spacesuits. Docked with Mir at the rear Kvant module port on 8 Apr 1997 17:30:03 GMT. The Mir complex raised its orbit by 5 km on 15 Apr 1997 at 12:00 GMT, using Progress M-34's engine. Undocked on 24 Jun 1997 10:22:50 GMT. It was then used to perform a redocking test using newly developed remote-control procedures which were to replace the automatic system that Russia could no longer afford to buy from Ukraine. At 25 Jun 1997 09:18 GMT Mir commander Tsibliev was remotely commanding the approach of Progress to the Kvant module. This involved guiding the Progress via a television monitor. The Progress was difficult to see against the cloudy earth background at the time of the attempted docking. It went off course and collided with a solar array on the Spektr module and then the module itself. A large hole was made in a solar panel, one of the radiators was buckled, a hole was punched into Spektr's hull, and the module began to depressurize. This was not a slow leak - the crew heard a hissing sound and felt their ears pop. They disconnected the power cables leading from Mir to the main station and closed the hatch on the core module transfer section that led to Spektr. The Spektr module became fully depressurized, remaining docked to Mir with its docking hatch open. The loss of electrical connection between Spektr's solar panels and the main station cut the available power supply to the station, crippling its operations until later repairs reconnected the electrical lines. Tsibliev was also the pilot on a previous orbital collision, when he banged Soyuz TM-17 into Mir in Jan 1994. After the return of the crew to earth he was found to be to blame for the incident, although the fines assessed were later dismissed. The Progress M-34 cargo ship was backed to a safe distance from the station and was destroyed in reentry on 2 Jul 1997 06:31:50 GMT. Total free-flight time 9.90 days. Total docked time 76.70 days.

The crew succeeded in completing repair of the damaged Spektr solar panel. However the EVA was cut short when Mission Control in error commanded the Mir to drift. This was then misdiagnosed as a depletion of fuel of the VDU orientation engine, and the crew was ordered back into the station.

Lockheed Martin was charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act by assisting China in redesigning their apogee kick motor (EPKM) for the Asiasat-2 communications satellite. This was denied by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which said that the EPKM was of totally indigenous design.