German Austrian engineer and early advocate of the use of rockets for flight. Opel supported Valier's original rocket car tests as publicity. He dreamed of rocket-propelled transatlantic aircraft and later became Opel's competitor. Valier died in a careless accident in 1932, in his laboratory in Berlin, when working on a rocket combustion chamber. It exploded and a small metal fragment hit his pulmonary artery.

NASA announced that the General Electric Company had been selected for a major supporting role in the Apollo project, to provide integration analysis of the total space vehicle (including booster-spacecraft interface), ensure reliability of the entire space vehicle, and develop and operate a checkout system.

Marshal Krylov, Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, headed the meeting. The conference room was mobbed - many unfamiliar faces were in attendance - everyone wanted to witness the historic event. General Kurushin, Commander of Baikonur, stated that he was against proceeding with the launch, due to the many unresolved technical issues, unless he could somehow be persuaded otherwise. He pointed out that Mishin had made a large number of changes to the N1 to increase its payload. However these at the same time negatively impacted the booster's reliability. Additional Details: here....

MV Keldysh is warning that new projects should use the existing N1 and trying to justify a program to upgrade it are premature. MV Keldysh - MKBS (use the existing launch vehicles) and direct broadcast satellites could also use existing LV's. Proposals for modernization are premature. Mozzhorin, Narimanov - also against the modernized N1M (Mishin Diaries 2-197)

Air Force Titan IIIC, Vehicle #17, was launched from Cape Canaveral and placed the 1,600-pound experimental Tactical Communications Satellite, TACSAT I, into a near-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 19,300 nautical miles above the equator. TACSAT I, built by Hughes Aircraft Company under SAMSO management, was the largest communications satellite yet launched and placed in orbit by the United States. It was to determine the feasibility of using satellite communications repeaters with small mobile ground tactical communications equipment. In addition, using the technology already developed with earlier Despun Antenna Test System (DATS) and Lincoln Experimental Satellites (LES) test spacecraft, TACSAT I would test the feasibility of satellite communications over great distances while also testing the new gyrostat stabilization system. The satellite could handle transmission of television or multiple telephone/ teletype communications channels. Experimental commsat. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A). Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Americas at 107 deg W in 1969?-1970; over the Pacific Ocean 173 deg W in 1970; over the Pacific Ocean 179 deg W in 1971-1972; over the Pacific Ocean170 deg E in 1972 Last known longitude (9 June 1995) 176.44 deg E drifting at 0.150 deg E per day.

An Orbital Workshop management review was conducted at McDonnell Douglas. Representatives from McDonnell Douglas, NASA Hq, KSC, MSFC, and MSC attended. Significant agenda items included the program schedule, engineering changes, design status, component tests, and procurement status. The OWS flight module was about three months behind schedule. The component development and qualification testing was also behind schedule. McDonnell Douglas reorganized the procurement activity and was making a significant effort to improve this area since it directly impacted the schedule slip.

The CM and SM separated, the parachutes deployed, and other reentry events went as planned, and the Kitty Hawk splashed down in mid-Pacific at 21:05 GMT 7 kilometers from the recovery ship U.S.S. New Orleans. The Apollo 14 crew returned to Houston on February 12, where they remained in quarantine until February 26. All primary mission objectives had been met. Additional Details: here....

An Atlas booster was launched from Cape Canaveral carrying the first FLTSATCOM satellite. The launch was successful, and the satellite functioned normally once in orbit. It was declared operational on 4 April. Fleet Satellite Communications. 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 Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Americas at 100 deg W in 1978-1987; over the Pacific Ocean 177 deg W in 1987-1992; over the Atlantic Ocean 15 deg W in 1992-1996;over the Indian Ocean 72 deg E in 1996-2001. Last known longitude (26 July 1999) 71.17 deg E drifting at 0.004 deg W per day.

On 4.02.1998 during Mir's pass in orbit 68334, 1848-1856 UTC, Solovyov reported that at 1831 UTC he had got the warning: Check the SUD and that the complex was now in the so called 'Indikatornyy Rezhim' meaning that Mir was flying in the 'free drift'. Due to the fact that time was running out he asked for advice from TsUP. TsUP asked for 'format' and 'regime'. S. gave Format 1, Indicated regime, operation rotation. The gyrodynes were still spinning and the Ts.V.M.-1 (Main computer) remained operational.

They shifted to the regime of 'reduced power consumption' and among the systems which had to be switched off were both Elektron oxygen generators. During the radio traffic about this SUD failure Solovyov also mentioned the VDU. The VDU is the external thruster in the Sofora boom. Possibly the failure had been caused by a wrong command in which the VDU was involved. For the last time the VDU was used to control attitude during the beginning of the combined flight of Mir and Endeavour. The VDU almost ran out of fuel and will be replaced in the near future.

Due to the fact that the Ts.V.M.-1 remained operational and the gyrodynes did not stop spinning the problem with the SUD could be solved already in the evening of 4.02.98 and did not have a negative effect on the present mission. On 5.02.1998 Altair-2 could be used for communications. Normally a serious attitude problem makes the use of that facility impossible. Leopold Eyharts gave a long TV-interview in which he reported with enthusiasm about his mission. Also the following days Altair-2 was regularly in use for communications and TV-sessions, for instance with the press, family and friends.

In one of the sessions Vinogradov showed a lot of systems and explained their functions. The mood among the 4 cosmonauts, 1 astronaut and 1 spationaute is excellent. There is a lot of joy and they do not complain about their modest housing. A good example of international co-operation. Thus far Solovyov is still in command and he and Vinogradov are responsible for a number of repairs and for a good functioning of the life support systems. Now and then Andy Thomas can be heard when he is in contact with his lead at TsUP in English. I did not yet hear him speaking Russian.

Soyuz-TM26:

The return of this ship with the crew of the 24th Main Expedition (Solovyov and Vinogradov) and the CNES spationaute is scheduled for 19.02.1998. That day the hatch between the departing men will be closed between 0240 and 0252 UTC. Soyuz-TM26 will separate from Mir between 0553 and 0604 UTC. The landing is planned for 0917 UTC. Data and times of the operations with Soyuz-TM27 (redocking) and the Progress-M37 (return to the complex after the autonomous flight and docking at the aft port) still have to be determined.

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

The first launch of the Soyuz- Ikar launch vehicle, selected by Orbcomm after failure of the Zenit launcher. The Ikar upper stage was derived from the Yantar reconnaissance satellite's propulsion module. The Soyuz second stage separated at 8 minutes 48 seconds into flight after placing the Ikar into a 236 km x 884 km x 52.0 deg transfer orbit. The Ikar stage burned at the second apogee passage, at 06:23 GMT, and released the Globalstar satellite at the top of the dispenser into a 915 km x 947 km x 52.0 deg orbit at 07:27 GMT. The three remaining satellites mounted around the side of the dispenser were released into a 903 km x 946 km x 52.0 deg orbit. This was also the first launch carried out by the Starsem organization, a joint venture including Aerospatiale and TsSKB-Progress (the launch vehicle manufacturer). The dispenser was built by Aerospatiale/Aquitaine (Bordeaux).