The Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) submitted the "Saturn System Study" which had been requested by the Advanced Research Projects Agency ARPA on December 18, 1958. From the 1375 possible configurations screened, and the 14 most promising given detailed study, the Atlas and Titan families were selected as the most attractive for upper staging. Either the 120-inch or the 160inch diameter was acceptable. The study included the statement: "An immediate decision by ARPA as to choice of upper stages on the first generation vehicle is mandatory if flight hardware is to be available to meet the proposed Saturn schedule." Additional Details: here....

Vershinin formalises two decrees - one to supply a Tu-104 to TsPK for cosmonaut zero-G training, the other for two Il-14's with HF transponders for long-range communications. Two further questions are discussed - should the cosmonauts be given the code for unlocking the manual orientation system of the spacecraft? It is decided they will be. And when will the flight be announced? Kamanin's position is that should happen as soon as the spacecraft safely reaches orbit, the others only want to make the first manned flight public after landing. It is decided to refer the matter for decision at the General Staff level.

The first stage of the Saturn SA-5 launch vehicle was static fired at MSFC for 144.44 seconds in the first long-duration test for a Block II S-1. The cluster of eight H-1 engines produced 680 thousand kilograms (1.5 million pounds) of thrust. An analysis disclosed anomalies in the propulsion system. In a final qualification test two weeks later, when the engines were fired for 143.47 seconds, the propulsion problems had been corrected.

Military-Industrial Commission (VPK) Decree 59 'On approval of work to convert Vostok to Voskhod and use it for three-person space missions' is issued. The resolution instructs GKOT to complete four Vostok spacecraft to the multi-passenger Voskhod configuration. The first is to be completed by 15 June 1964; the second by 30 June; the third and fourth, in July. The crew for the first mission will consist of a pilot-cosmonaut, a scientist, and a physician. Launch is set for the first half of August 1965.

Titov is going to Italy, Feoktistov to Hungary. The 30 month program for the L3 lunar landing is settled. The cosmonauts already began training in January. The first LK lunar lander will be tested in low earth orbit in the second half of 1969. The first Soviet manned lunar landing cannot take place any earlier than 1970-1971. The resolution had set the date as 1967-1968, but the N1 and L3 will not be ready in time. The L3 is still conceptual, a purely paper spacecraft. The first N1 was to have been moved to the pad by March of this year, but it won't even make that milestone by May.

The Apollo 9 CM splashed down in the Atlantic 290 kilometers east of the Bahamas at 17:01 GMT. The crew was picked up by helicopter and flown to the recovery ship U.S.S. Guadalcanal within one hour after splashdown. Primary objectives of the flight were successfully accomplished.

In its first use at Cape Canaveral, a NASA Long Tank Thrust Augmented Thor/ Delta boosted Explorer 43 into orbit. This was the first "Super Six" configuration Thor/Delta, with strap-on solid-rocket boosters motors, to be launched from the Eastern Test Range. Earth magnetosphere research. Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).

The 68th Strategic Missile Squadron, the third and final squadron of the 44th Strategic Missile Wing (Wing II) at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, was returned to SAC control. This was after completion of Force Modernization, Upgrade Silo, and other miscellaneous force improvements. Turnover was completed 30 days ahead of schedule.

Mir Main Expedition EO-01. Epic repair mission. The crew, consisting of ship's commander L D Kizim and flight engineer V A Solovyov first docked with the Mir orbital station to conduct scientific and technical studies and experiments. Mir then maneuvered 17 April to match Salyut 7's orbit at 4000 km separation, then again on 4 May to catch up. After six weeks aboard Mir, Soyuz T-15 undocked on 5 May, then rendezvoused and manually docked with the inoperative Salyut 7 station. This was the only flight in history by a single spacecraft between two space stations. The Salyut-7 station was found to be ice bound and without electrical power. The crew repaired the station, regaining power, heat, and environmental control. The also removed experimental results left behind by last crew. Soyuz T-15 undocked Salyut 7 on 25 June, and redocked with Mir on 26 June, delivering 400 kg of scientific material from Salyut 7, including a multichannel spectrometer. Following further work aboard Mir, the crew landed on July 16, 1986 at 12:34 GMT. No crew ever revisited Salyut 7; it made an uncontrolled reentry over Argentina.

Manned five crew. Deployed TDRS 4. Payloads: Deploy IUS (Inertial Upper Stage) with Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-D. Protein Crystal Growth (PCG); Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space; IMAX 70mm camera; Shuttle Student Involvement Project (SSIP) experiments: SSIP 82-8, Effects of Weightlessness in Space Flight on the Healing of Bone Fractures, and SSIP 83-9, Chicken Embryo Development in Space; Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.

Deployed from STS 29 13 March 1989; NASA communications; 41 deg W. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 41 deg W in 1989-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 41.04 deg W drifting at 0.010 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 45.81W drifting at 0.008W degrees per day.

This second test or ERIS against a Minuteman I was considered successful enough that no further tests were planned. A second launch attempt on 11 May 1991 had been scrubbed after launch of the target missile but before launch of the interceptor. Further develoment of the technology was to be accomplished by the Orbital Sciences' Aries test vehicle with spectacularly poor results.

The airlock was depressurized at 0518 GMT and the hatch opened at 0520 GMT. The astronauts took the External Stowage Platform from the ICC carrier to the port side of the Destiny module, and then installed the spare Pump Flow Control System on it. The ESP was used to store on-orbit-spare equipment. Next they hooked up cables on the robot arm's umbilical, and travelled up to the top of the P6 tower to fix a solar array latch - it just needed a good thump - and inspect the FPP experiment. The astronauts returned to the airlock at 1132 GMT and began repressurizing at 1144 GMT.

Classified National Reconnaisance Office satellite placed in a Molniya orbit; orbital parameters are estimated. Believed to be the second in a new series carrying combined signals intelligence and early warning payloads. Probable sensors included the SBIRS HEO-2 infrared missile early warning package and the NASA/Los Alamos TWINS-B magnetospheric research payload.

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission was launched on Mar 13. The mission consists of four identical spacecraft, each with a mass of 1000 kg plus 400 kg of propellant. The spacecraft will fly in a tetrahedral formation some tens of kilometres apart to disentangle spatial and temporal fluctuations in the magnetospheric particle and field environment. They will deploy wire booms with a span of 112 metres to measure electric fields. Additional Details: here....