These were check tests of 5 3/4-in.-diameter chambers with fuels of various volatilities; development of tilting cap parachute release; tests of various forms of exposed movable air vanes; test of retractable air vanes and parachute with heavy shroud lines. The series ran from November 24, 1930-May 19, 1937 (L8-L15).

The Space Task Group placed an order for one Atlas launch vehicle with the Air Force Missile Division, Inglewood, California, as part of a preliminary research program leading to manned space flight. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters requested that the Air Force construct and launch one Atlas C launch vehicle to check the aerodynamics of the spacecraft. It was the intention to launch this missile about May 1959 in a ballistic trajectory. This was to be the launch vehicle for the Big Joe reentry test shot, but plans were later changed and an Atlas Model D launch vehicle was used instead.

North American issued the final report of its study for MSC on extended missions for the Apollo spacecraft. In stressing the supreme importance of man's role in the exploration of space-and the uncertainties surrounding the effects of prolonged exposure to the zero-gravity environment of space-the company suggested that an Earth-orbital laboratory would be an ideal vehicle for such long-term experimental evaluation, with missions exceeding a year's duration. Additional Details: here....

Kamanin has his first face-to-face meeting with Korolev in 3 months - the longest delay in three years of working together. Their relationship is at low ebb. Despite having last talked about the next Voskhod flight by the end of November, Korolev now reveals that the spacecraft are still incomplete, and that he has abandoned plans to finish the last two (s/n 8 and 9), since these would overlap with planned Soyuz flights. By the first quarter of 1966 OKB-1 expects to be completing two Soyuz spacecraft per quarter, and by the end of 1966, one per month. Voskhod s/n 5, 6, and 7 will only be completed in January-February 1966. Korolev has decided to delete the artificial gravity experiment from s/n 6 and instead fly this spacecraft with two crew for a 20-day mission. The artificial gravity experiment will be moved to s/n 7. Completion of any of the Voskhods for spacewalks has been given up; future EVA experiments will be conducted from Soyuz spacecraft. Korolev says he has supported VVS leadership of manned spaceflight in conversations with Tyulin, Afanasyev, Pashkov, and Smirnov.

Parachute deployment and other reentry events occurred as planned. The CM splashed down in mid-Pacific at 3:58 p.m. EST (20:58 GMT), 7.25 kilometers from the recovery ship, U.S.S. Hornet. The astronauts, wearing flight suits and biological face masks, were airlifted by helicopter from the CM to the recovery ship, where they entered the mobile quarantine facility. They would remain in this facility until arrival at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, MSC. The Apollo 12 mission objectives were achieved and the experiments successfully accomplished.

Apollo 12 parachute deployment and other reentry events occurred as planned. The CM splashed down in mid-Pacific at 20:58 GMT November 24, 7.25 kilometers from the recovery ship, U.S.S. Hornet. The astronauts, wearing flight suits and biological face masks, were airlifted by helicopter from the CM to the recovery ship, where they entered the mobile quarantine facility. They would remain in this facility until arrival at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, MSC. Additional Details: here....

A gala is held at the Soviet Army Theater on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Zhukovskiy Flight Academy. There is also a meeting of the Central Chess Club of the USSR to honour the first space-earth chess match played during the Soyuz 9 flight. Even Spasskiy is there. IMBP has advised the environmental control system for DOS#1 will not be ready in time to support a 5 February launch.

Headquarters AFSC announced that SAMSO had proposed the development of a navigation system employing several clusters of satellites and ground stations (Program 621B). When developed, the system would provide three-dimensional position and velocity information for users.

LK moon lander test using the T2K version. First use of the Soyuz 11A511L booster modified especially for this purpose. The spacecraft made a series of engine burns, simulating the lunar landing profile. After 3.5 days in orbit, the first burn was made in imitation of a descent to the lunar surface after separation of the Block D lunar crasher stage. The orbit changed from 192 km X 233 km to 196 km X 1206 km orbit; delta V: 263 m/s. After 4 days in orbit, a large manoeuvre was made simulating the ascent from the lunar surface. The orbit was changed from 188 km X 1198 km to 177 km X 14,041 km; delta V: 1518 m/s. These main manoeuvres were followed by a series of small adjustments simulating rendezvous and docking with the LOK. The LK tested out without major problems and decayed from orbit on September 21, 1983.

Continued operation of the long-range telephone and telegraph radio-communication system within the Soviet Union and transmission of USSR central television programmes to stations in the Orbita and participating international networks (international cooperation scheme).

Manned six crew. Deployed Defense Support Program satellite. Payloads: Defense Support Program satellite/ Inertial Upper Stage, Interim Operational Contamination Monitor, Terra Scout, Military Man in Space, Shuttle Activation Monitor, Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor, Radiation Monitoring Equipment Ill, Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test, Ultraviolet Plume Instrument, Visual Function Tester 1.

DSP-1 Block 14 ballistic missile launch detection satellite, deployed from shuttle STS-44 on 25 November 1991. Only DSP launched from the shuttle before the Challenger disaster moved the payload to the Titan 4. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 130 deg W in 1992; 70 deg E in 1992; 8 deg E in 1999; 40 deg W in 2000. Still in service as of March 2007.

With abandonment of the Buran shuttle and 37K modules, the Mir-2 design was cut back again. Mir-2 returned to its original planned 65 degree orbit, and would be assembled and flown separately from Mir. It would now consist of the DOS-8 core module, and a cross beam called the NEP (scientific-energy platform). This was equipped with equipment already proven on Mir: MSB retractable solar panels, Sfora thruster packages, small scientific packages as demonstrated on Kvant.The add-on modules now used the Progress-M service module as a tug, and were reduced in size for launch by either the Soyuz or Zenit launch vehicles.

MEPSI (Micro-Electromechanical-based Picosat Satellite Inspection Experiment) consisted of two 1 kg boxes attached to each other by a 15-m tether. The boxes included an imaging camera and a MEM transceiver. They were ejected from the PLA (Picosat Launch Assembly) of shuttle Endeavour, a 6 kg box attached to an Adaptive Payload Carrier (APC) on the payload bay side wall.

ISS assembly mission ISS-11A delayed from August 22, September 6, 19, October 6, November 2, 10, 11, 19 and 23 due to SSME problems and then damage to the Shuttle's manipulator arm. Shuttle mission STS-113 carried a crew of seven astronauts (six American and one Russian) and a 13.7-m truss of 12.5 tons to the International Space Station (ISS). During several hours of EVA, the crew installed and secured the truss assembly. The truss was to provide structural support for the station's thermal control radiators, and brought the total mass of the ISS to over 200 tons. Prior to leaving the ISS, the shuttle released a pair of tethered (15-m long) picosatellites. It was to leave the ISS on December 2.

International Space Station Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Dan Tani completed a 7-hour, 4-minute spacewalk at 11:54 a.m. EST Saturday, continuing the external outfitting of the Harmony node in its new position in front of the U.S. laboratory Destiny. Additional Details: here....

The crew completed fluid, electrical, and data line hookups between PMA-2 and Harmony. They connected the Loop B Fluid Tray to the port side of Destiny. They then moved to the truss and made photographs for ground analysis of the troubled starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint.

Telesat of Canada's Telstar 12 Vantage comms satellite launched to geotransfer orbit in the first commercial launch of Japan's H-IIA rocket and the first use of an uprated LOX/LH2 upper stage modified for a long coast to a third burn at geotransfer apogee. The stage venting was visible to observers in the USA. Telstar 12 Vantage replaces Telstar 12 and provides Ku-band capacity to the Americas.