Headquarters Air Materiel Command (AMC) announced the establishment of the Special Aircraft Project Office (SAPO) under the command of Colonel Harold T. Morris. SAPO was to begin operations in Inglewood, California, on 15 August, and would perform all procurement and contracting functions for the Western Development Division.

Headquarters USAF issued General Operational Requirement (GOR) 171 that established an Air Force requirement for an economical, quick-reaction, solid-propellant or storable liquids ICBM weapon system. Initial operational capability (IOC) was set as FY1963. The Minuteman (WS 133A) was intended to fulfill this requirement.

Second manned orbital flight. The Soviet Union successfully launched Vostok II into orbit with Gherman S. Titov as pilot. The spacecraft carried life-support equipment, radio and television for monitoring the condition of the cosmonaut, tape recorder, telemetry system, biological experiments, and automatic and manual control equipment. Flight objectives: Investigation of the effects on the human organism of a prolonged flight in orbit and subsequent return to the surface of the Earth; investigation of man's ability to work during a prolonged period of weightlessness. Titov took manual control of spacecraft but suffered from space sickness. He was equipped with a professional quality Konvas movie camera, with which ten minutes of film of the earth were taken through the porthole. Both television and film images were taken of the interior of the spacecraft. Like Gagarin, Titov experienced problems with separation of the service module after retrofire. Titov was never to fly again, after being assigned to the Spiral spaceplane, which turned out to be a dead-end project. A biography of him by Martin Caidin ('I Am Eagle') made him somewhat more accessible than Gagarin to the West.

The MIT Instrumentation Laboratory ordered a Honeywell 1800 electronic computer from the Minneapolis- Honeywell Regulator Company's Electronic Data Processing Division for work on the Apollo spacecraft navigation system. After installation in 1963, the computer would aid in circuitry design of the Apollo spacecraft computer and would also simulate full operation of a spaceborne computer during ground tests.

The first "stretched" Atlas SLV-3A/ Agena D was launched from the Eastern Test Range. The "stretched" Atlas had an additional 117-inch tank section to provide more fuel, a longer burn time, and increased payload capability. First launch in a communications intelligence program operated by the USAF within the National Reconnaissance Office, on behalf of the National Security Agency. The first generation series, CANYON, was based on the Agena vehicle. The Agena D remained attached to the spacecraft. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean. Last known longitude (30 December 1968) 98.50 deg W drifting at 0.166 deg E per day.

Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The Atlas G Centaur delivered a badly damaged but operating FLTSATCOM spacecraft to its correct orbit. Investigation showed that the most likely cause was failure of the fiberglass fairing during ascent. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 90 deg W in 1981; 90-114 deg W in 1982; 44 deg W in 1982-1986 As of 5 September 2001 located at 140.32 deg W drifting at 6.003 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 31.85E drifting at 6.002W degrees per day.

The perfect launch took place on 5.08.1997 at 15.35.59 UTC. On board the crew for the 24th Main Exp. to Mir, Anatoliy Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov . Call sign: Rodniki, so Rodnik-1 and Rodnik-2. During the first pass in orb. 2 (1838-1841 UTC) very weak signals on beacon- and telephony frequencies. During the pass in orb. 3 (2007-2011 UTC) very good reception on all frequencies. Solovyov could be heard in a conversation with TsUP. He reported a technical anomaly in the BO (life compartment): a hose (or: tube) was not connected to an air purification unit, which caused an increased amount of CO2 in the mini-atmosphere on board. He told TsUP that he had connected that hose immediately and that the system was functioning normally. Again good signals in the window in orb. 4 (2138-2147 UTC) during which Solovyev repeated his report about that hose.

Mir:

During the passes in the evening of 4.08.1997 the crew reported that they were working on the malfunctioning Elektron oxygen generator in Kvant-1. (The Elektron in Kvant-2 is not operational due to power shortages). During a long communication session via Altair-2 in the morning of 5.08.1997 the crew was still co-ordinating the repair work on the Elektron. After the departure of Progress-M35 for a 10 day lasting autonomous flight lithium perchlorate cartridges have to be used for the production of oxygen. This will be not very convenient during the period in which 5 men are on board (7-14.08.97).

An eventual delay of the Soyuz-TM26 launch due to the problems with the Elektrons has not been taken into consideration.

In MirNEWS.374 I gave an estimated time for the docking of Soyuz-TM26 on 7.08.97 as 1723 UTC. In that report I remarked that this time considerably deviated from the normal routine: dockings a few minutes after LOS of the first pass of both objects for our position. Inquiries in the Ballistic Section of the Keldysh institute of the R.A.N. learned that there had been a misprint in a Russian message about the estimated docking time. The estimated docking time is: 07.08.97 at 1703 UTC, so in accordance with the normal routine.

The supply ship Progress-M35 has to free the docking port (+X-axis) for the arrival of the Soyuz-TM26 and will do this on 6.08.97 at 1144 UTC. The autonomous flight of Progress-M35 will last until 16.08.97. On that day Progress-M35 will dock (in the automatic regime with the system Kurs) at the same docking port after the redocking of Soyuz-TM26 to the forward (-X-axis) the day before. Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.

Progress M1-3 automatically docked with the International Space Station on August 8 at 20:13 GMT at the rear Zvezda port. The supply ship began refuelling of the station a few days later. It remained attached for offloading of its dry cargo by the STS-106 crew. It later separated from Zvezda's rear port at 0405 GMT November 1 and was deorbited over the Pacific at 0705 GMT.

Launch postponed from February, then delayed from July 27. USA 159 was a US Air Force Defense Support Program infrared missile early warning satellite was placed by the Titan core into a 328 x 663 km x 28.7 deg parking orbit. The Boeing IUS-16 upper stage then fired its first solid motor to enter geostationary transfer orbit. The second IUS solid motor fired at around 14:00 GMT placing DSP Flight 21 in near-geosynchronous orbit. Still in service as of March 2007.

Aboard the International Space Station this week, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke resumed scientific investigations, routine maintenance, and preparations for the arrival of a new cargo ship - all following a spacewalk on Tuesday. Additional Details: here....