On January 1 in Space History
Chronology
79 events
1801 January 1
- Guiseppe Piazzi's Discovery of the First Asteroid (Ceres) - . Nation: Italy.
1899 January 1
- Birth of Robert Tschechner - . Nation: Germany, Russia. Related Persons: Tschechner. German specialist engineer in WW2, member of the Rocket Team in the Soviet Union, worked on rocket engine development in Glushko's design bureau from 1947 to 1952. Worked in Manufacture; Laboratory Department..
1906 January 1
- Birth of Henrik Winskowski - . Nation: Germany, Russia. Related Persons: Winskowski. German design engineer in WW2, member of the Rocket Team in the Soviet Union, worked on rocket engine development in Glushko's design bureau from 1947 to 1952. Worked in Engineering and Design; Dept. 61..
1908 January 1
- Birth of Hermann H Kurzweg - . Nation: Germany, USA. Related Persons: Kurzweg. German-American aerodynamicist, at Peenemuende, then US Naval Ordnance 1946-1960, NASA 1960-1974..
1909 January 1
- Birth of Friedrich Dhom - . Nation: Germany, USA. Related Persons: Dhom. German-American engineer in WW2, member of the Rocket Team in the United States thereafter. German expert in guided missiles during WW2. As of January 1947, working at Fort Bliss, Texas. Died at Brownsboro, Texas..
1941 January 1
- Aerial torpedo proposed. - . Nation: USA. RCA proposed to NDRC design and developoment of rocket-propelled, radio-controlled aerial torpedo with TV nose, which was given code name "Dragon." The National Bureau of Standards was assigned the task of developing a suitable airframe..
1942 January 1
- Declaration of United Nations signed in Washington - . Nation: International.
1942 January 1
- Birth of Aleksandr Yakovlevich Petrushenko - . Nation: Ukraine. Related Persons: Petrushenko. Ukrainian pilot cosmonaut, 1965-1973. Later worked at Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, then moved to the satellite control center in Monino until his retirement 1991..
1944 January 1
Launch Vehicle: Corporal.- Private and Corporal missile development begun. - . Nation: USA. At request of Army Ordnance, Cal Tech's rocket laboratory started research and development program on long-range missiles, called Project ORDCIT, which resulted in development of Private "A" and Corporal missiles..
1945 January 1
17:17 GMT - . Launch Site: V-2 Battery 444. Launch Vehicle: V-2. FAILURE: Failure.- V-2 combat launch from the Hague to Wassenaar - .
Nation: Germany.
Jan. 01, (17.17 hours) - Battery 444 or Batt. 485, the Hague or Wassenaar, Ockenburgh, rocket fired, several meters above the launch table the rocket turned 160 degrees. Blasting low over two cemeteries it came down in the houses in the Indigostraat, at the corner of Kamperfoeliestraat, at a distance of 3600 meters from the launch site. 38 people lost their lives. The doctors and nurses, who were very quick to the crash, were not allowed to enter the area until after the Germans had collected the remains of the rocket.
1949 January 1
- Destination Moon - . Nation: USA. The Technicolor film "Destination Moon" went into production. The direct ascent mode was used in a four-man lunar landing mission. The movie premiered in New York City in 1950..
1950 January 1
Launch Vehicle: MKR.- Design of 8,000 km range winged missile begun - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Navaho. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. In parallel with the R-5 Korolev OKB NII-88 begins design of 8,000 km range winged missile..
1952 January 1
Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Double Deacon. FAILURE: Failure.1955 January 1
- Military space projects under study. - .
Spacecraft Bus: Man-In-Space-Soonest.
Spacecraft: Man-In-Space-Soonest,
Lunex.
In 1955-1957 many Air Force officers in widely scattered field units, without coordinated effort, prepared papers and studies proposing military space projects. Small groups at Headquarters Air Research and Development Command, at the Ballistic Missile Division, at Holloman Air Force Base, and at Wright Air Development Center (WADC) sensed danger in the Government's unwillingness to give the new technology the urgent support they felt it deserved. Programs were proposed which called for organized space experiments, "at the earliest practicable date." Such experiments included orbiting satellites, manned and unmanned, a manned space station and a spacecraft voyage to the moon. (Bowen, Lee, The Threshold of Space, Sep 1960, published by the Air Force Historical Liaison Ofc, p.7)
1955 January 1
Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Vehicle: R-11.- Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi).
1956 January 1
Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar V-2. LV Family: R-5. Launch Vehicle: R-5M.- Certification test - . Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi).
1956 January 1
Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar V-2. LV Family: R-5. Launch Vehicle: R-5M.- Certification test - . Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). The series of 5 launches began on 11 January 1956 with launch of a dummy warhead..
1956 January 1
Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar V-2. LV Family: R-5. Launch Vehicle: R-5M.- Certification test - . Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi).
1956 January 1
Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar V-2. LV Family: R-5. Launch Vehicle: R-5M.- Certification test - . Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi).
1956 January 1
Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. LV Family: R-11. Launch Vehicle: R-11M.- Test mission - . Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi).
1958 January 1
Launch Site: Vandenberg.- Responsibility for ballistic missile IOC was transferred from ARDC (AFBMD) to SAC. - .
At Cooke AFB, AFBMD retained responsibility for construction of technical facilities as well as research and development activities. At Los Angeles, the entire staff of AFBMD's Deputy Commander for Plans and Operations, under Colonel William R. Large, Jr., was transferred to man the new Office of the Assistant Commander-in-Chief, SAC (SAC/MIKE), that was established at AFBMD to manage IOC activities.
1958 January 1
Launch Vehicle: Thor.- Thor put into operational service. - . Nation: USA. Strategic Air Command assigned responsibility for U.S. operational ICBM capability; while the 672nd Strategic Missile Squadron, first to be equipped with USAF Douglas Thor IRBM, was activated..
1958 January 1
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg.- Cooke AFB transferred to SAC - . Nation: USA. Cooke AFB (with major operational and training units) transferred from Air Research and Development Command to Strategic Air Command. Launch facility construction as well as research and development activities at Cooke AFB were the responsibility of the A.
1959 January 1
- Cuban President Batista resigns and flees - Castro takes over - . Nation: USA.
1959 January 1
Launch Vehicle: Saturn V.- 1 million pound engine demonstrated. - . Nation: USA. Program: Apollo. Rocketdyne demonstrated 1-million-pound-thrust liquid-propellant rocket combustion chamber at full power..
1960 January 1
Launch Site: White Sands. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Nike Cajun.1961 January 1
- Mercury 13 Astronaut Training Group selected. - .
Nation: USA.
Related Persons: Allison,
Cagle, Myrtle,
Cobb,
Dietrich,
Dietrich, Marion,
Funk,
Gorelick,
Hart, Jane,
Hixson,
Leverton,
Steadman,
Stumough,
Truhill.
Qualifications: Qualified jet pilot with minimum 1,500 flight-hours/10 years experience, bachelor's degree or equivalent, under 40 years old, under 180 cm height, excellent physical condition.. Randolph Lovelace was director of the clinic where the Mercury astronauts had undergone their physical examinations. He and Jacqueline Cochran, the first American woman to break the sound barrier, wanted to prove that women were equally qualified to be astronauts. In early 1961 they arranged for 20 highly qualified female pilots to take the same physical tests undergone by the Mercury astronauts. Thirteen passed the tests, but NASA maintained its position that astronauts had to be qualified test pilots (all of whom were white males). One of the thirteen was the wife of a US Senator, and some congressional hearings were arranged. Despite the publicity NASA was still unwilling to place them in the official NASA training program.
Oddly enough, the selection of these women may have resulted in the first woman going into space after all. In May 1962 a Soviet delegation, including cosmonaut Gherman Titov and cosmonaut commander Nikolai Kamanin, visited Washington. Kamanin had been pushing for the flight of a Soviet woman into space since October 1961, and five Soviet female cosmonauts had just reported for training a month earlier. However the flight of a woman in space had little support from Chief Designer Korolev or Kamanin's military commanders. On May 3 Kamanin and Titov were invited to a barbecue at the home of astronaut John Glenn. Glenn, already politically-connected, was an enthusiastic supporter of the 'Lovelace 13'. Kamanin understood from Glenn that the first American woman would make a three-orbit Mercury flight by the end of 1962. Armed with the threat that 'the Americans will beat us', Kamanin was able to obtain a decision to go ahead with the first flight of a Soviet woman within weeks of his return. The Russians were obsessed with being first in space -- and even though NASA's female cosmonauts never materialised, Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963.
1961 January 1
- Council of Chief Designers recognised. - . Nation: Russia. Decree 'On formalising powers of the Council of Chief Designers' was issued..
1961 January 1
Launch Site: Tonopah. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Kisha Judi.1962 January 1
- Only 84 NASA personnel move from Langley to Houston - . Nation: USA. A survey was performed at the Manned Spacecraft Center to ascertain the number of personnel who intended to move with the Center from Langley Field to Houston, Texas. Only 84 personnel indicated they would not make the move..
1964 January 1
Launch Site: Barbados Site. Launch Complex: Barbados HARP gun 16 inch. LV Family: Martlet. Launch Vehicle: Martlet 2.1965 January 1
- Raketoplan canceled. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Raketoplan. Decree 'On end of work on the Raketoplan at OKB-52' was issued. This action was in accordance with the Five Year Military Space Plan approved on 18 June 1964..
1965 January 1
Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.- Spiral development at MiG bureau authorised. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Spiral 50-50. Spacecraft: MiG 105-11. Decree 'On plan of work on Spiral at OKB-155' was issued..
1965 January 1
- Almaz space station development authorised. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Almaz. Spacecraft: Almaz APOS. Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On work on space stations at OKB-52' was issued..
1965 January 1
- Journalist Cosmonaut Training Group selected. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Golovanov, Letunov, Rebrov. The group was selected to provide trainees for a planned Voskhod spaceflight made with a journalist aboard..
1965 January 1
LV Family: Titan. Launch Vehicle: Titan II.- Acquisition phase of the Titan II program completed. - . The acquisition phase of the Titan II program was completed, and the Ballistic Systems Division Titan System Program Office was discontinued as of 31 December 1964..
1965 January 1
- Syncom 2 and 3 to be transferred to the US Defense Department. - . Spacecraft Bus: HS 301. Spacecraft: Syncom. NASA transferred the operation of Syncom II and Syncom III synchronous communications satellites to the Defense Department which had provided the communications ground stations for the program..
1966 January 1
- Study grants for AAP astonomical instrumentation to be flown in the 1969-1975 period. - .
Nation: USA.
Spacecraft Bus: Skylab.
Spacecraft: Orbital Workshop,
Skylab.
Homer E. Newell, Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications, announced opportunities for study grants to competent astronomers for conceptual and preliminary design work leading to instrumentation to be flown in the 1969-1975 period. A description of the Apollo telescope mount was included.
1967 January 1
LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Voskhod 11A57.- Zenit-2 spysat moved to more powerful Voskhod launcher. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Ministry of Defence Decree 15 'On transfer of Zenit-2 from the 8A92 to the 11A57 launcher' was issued..
1967 January 1
- Birth of Mukhtar Rabatovich Aymakhanov - . Nation: Kazakhstan. Related Persons: Aymakhanov. Kazakh pilot cosmonaut, 2002-on..
1968 January 1
Launch Site: Fort Churchill. LV Family: Loki. Launch Vehicle: Judi-Dart.1970 January 1
Launch Site: Fort Churchill. LV Family: Loki. Launch Vehicle: Judi-Dart.1971 January 1
- Cosmonaut Anatoly Pavlovich Demyanenko dies at age of 29 -- Natural causes. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Demyanenko. Russian engineer cosmonaut, 1969-1971. Engineer at the Scientific Research Institute of Automatics and Instrument Engineering. On 11 September 1969 selected as a cosmonaut, but the selection was not confirmed by the government commission..
1972 January 1
- TsKBEM reorganised - .
Nation: Russia.
Related Persons: Bushuyev,
Dorofeyev,
Mishin,
Semenov,
Shabarov.
Program: Lunar L3,
Soyuz,
Almaz.
Spacecraft: LK,
Mars 5NM,
MKBS,
Soyuz 7K-LOK,
Soyuz 7K-OK,
Soyuz 7K-S,
Soyuz 7K-T,
Soyuz 7K-TM.
TsKBEM was given a completely new structure as a result of the findings of the expert commissions on the disasters for the previous year, Mishin remained as the Chief Designer for the organisation, but each programme now had its own chief designer:
- N1: Boris Dorofeyev
- 8K98P solid propellant ICBM: Igor Sadovskiy
- N1 payloads: Vladimir Brorov [check]
- Soyuz 7K-TM, or Soyuz M, for Soyuz-Apollo: Konstantin Bushuyev
- Soyuz 7K-T: Yuri Semenov
- Soyuz 7K-S or Soyuz VI: Yevgeni Shabarov
1972 January 1
Launch Site: Plesetsk. LV Family: RT-2. Launch Vehicle: RT-2P.1972 January 1
07:05 GMT - . Launch Pad: Atlantic Ocean, 24.0 N x 53.0 W. Launch Platform: ZUB. Launch Vehicle: MR-12.- Aeronomy mission - . Nation: Russia. Apogee: 180 km (110 mi).
1972 January 1
08:02 GMT - . Launch Site: Kheysa. Launch Vehicle: MR-12.- Aeronomy mission - . Nation: Russia. Apogee: 180 km (110 mi).
1973 January 1
LV Family: N1. Launch Vehicle: N1F-L3M.- N1-L3M - . Nation: Russia. Program: Lunar L3. Spacecraft Bus: L3M. Spacecraft: L3M-1972. The first lunar expedition project, the N1-L3M, was studied in 1973..
1974 January 1
- Skylab 4 - Wakeup Song: Auld Lang Syne - . Flight: Skylab 4. "Auld Lang Syne" Guy Lombardo"Paralyzed" by Legendary Stardust Cowboy.
1974 January 1
Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Athena RTV. Launch Vehicle: Athena RTV.1974 January 1
Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar LC107/1. Launch Pad: LC107/pad?. LV Family: R-14. Launch Vehicle: Vertikal' K65UP.1975 January 1
- Vulkan Mars Expedition - .
Nation: Russia.
Related Persons: Glushko.
Glushko proposed a Mars expedition launched by the Vulkan heavy-lift launch vehicle. The concept was treated like a bad allergy by the VPK. He later scaled it down and proposed it for launch by Energia (using 100 tonne modules instead of 230 tonne modules).
1975 January 1
- Vulkan Lunar Base - .
Nation: Russia.
Related Persons: Barmin,
Bushuyev,
Glushko,
Mishin.
Program: Lunar L3.
Spacecraft: LEK,
Lunokhod LEK,
LZhM,
LZM.
Mishin and Barmin, using budget provided by the Ministry of Defence, had designed a lunar base for launch by the N1 in 1969-1974. After the cancellation of the N1, Glushko pleaded with the Military-Industrial Commission for the work to be taken from Barmin and be given to NPO Energia. Glushko's alternative, Vulkan-launched base was elaborated within his bureau. Bushuyev developed spacecraft for the base. Prudnikova developed a modular lunar city, with living modules, factory modules, a nuclear reactor power module, and a lunar crawler with a 200 km radius of action. The project work was only finally cancelled after the Apollo-Soyuz flights.
1975 January 1
Launch Vehicle: UR-700.- Chelomei presents plan for Mars mission - .
Nation: Russia.
Related Persons: Chelomei.
Class: Mars.
Type: Manned Mars flyby. Spacecraft: MK-700.
As the only remaining contender for the Aelita design competition, Chelomei proposes a Mars flyby using an MK-700 spacecraft. A crew of two would be sent on a two year mission in a single launch of a UR-700M booster. The spacecraft would have a mass of 250 tonnes in low earth orbit and be equipped with an RD-410 nuclear engine.
1975 January 1
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg.- The USNS Sunnyvale decommissioned. - . Nation: USA. The USNS Sunnyvale, the last Air Force Western Test Range instrumentation ship, transferred to the Maritime Administration..
1975 January 1
Launch Site: Kagoshima. Launch Vehicle: S-310.1976 January 1
Launch Pad: Atlantic Ocean, 60.0 N x 30.0 W. Launch Platform: ZUB. Launch Vehicle: MR-12.- Nation: Russia. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi).
1977 January 1
- Cardiologist Cosmonaut Training Group selected. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Atkov. Cardiologists were selected for planned Salyut / Mir long-duration biomedical missions..
1978 January 1
- Vulkan Lunar Base rejected - .
Nation: Russia.
Related Persons: Glushko,
Keldysh.
Spacecraft: LEK,
Lunokhod LEK,
LZhM,
LZM.
An expert commission led by Keldysh examines the plan for a lunar base launched by the Vulkan booster. The plan is completely rejected. NPO Energia was told to quit dreaming and devote itself only to projects with national economic importance, like Buran. This put a definitive end to Glushko's lunar base projects studied in 1976-1978. But he just waited and started design work again on a lunar base using the Energia launch vehicle after the first Buran launch in 1988.
1978 January 1
LV Family: Peacekeeper.- SAMSO's ICBM Program Office began a Multiple Aimpoint Basing Study for Missile X basing. - .
The study had been requested by the Defense Science Board after briefings by SAMSO late in CY 1977 on the subject of alternate basing modes. The study was concluded in April, and the results were presented in a briefing to the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and the Defense Science Board. The study recommended the vertical shelter basing mode, with the horizontal shelter basing mode as a second choice.
1978 January 1
- Kovunenko succeds Babkin as OKB head - . Nation: Russia. Class: Manned. Type: Manned space station. VM Kovunenko succeds Babkin as head of former Lavochkin design bureau..
1978 January 1
Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: UR-100N.1978 January 1
Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: UR-100N.1979 January 1
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg.- Demolition and construction work began at SLC-6 - . Nation: USA. Program: STS. Demolition and construction work began at Space Launch Complex 6 in preparation for the Space Shuttle program..
1980 January 1
- Female Cosmonaut Training Group selected. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Ivanova, Klyushnikova. The training group was selected for planned female missions to upstage any American female 'first in space' missions aboard the space shuttle. Soviet women would make the first female spacewalk, and the first all-female crew was planned..
1980 January 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1980 January 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1980 January 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1980 January 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1983 January 1
Launch Site: Balasore. LV Family: RH. Launch Vehicle: RH-200.1984 January 1
- Space Command responsible for Global Positioning System. - . Nation: USA. Spacecraft: Navstar. Space Command assumed resource management responsibility for Global Positioning System..
1988 January 1
Launch Site: Palmachim. LV Family: Jericho. Launch Vehicle: Jericho II.1989 January 1
17:11 GMT - . Launch Site: Sea Launch Area. Launch Pad: UNKO. Launch Platform: PRILIV. Launch Vehicle: MMR-06.1990 January 1
- Astronaut James Wayne Wood dies at age of 65 -- Natural causes. - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Wood. American pilot astronaut, 1962-1963..
1990 January 1
00:07 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC40. LV Family: Titan. Launch Vehicle: Commercial Titan 3.- Skynet 4A - .
Payload: Skynet 4A [PAM-D2] / JCSat 2 [Orbus-7S]. Mass: 1,463 kg (3,225 lb). Nation: UK.
Agency: MoD.
Program: Skynet.
Class: Communications.
Type: Military communications satellite. Spacecraft: ECS/OTS.
USAF Sat Cat: 20401 . COSPAR: 1990-001A. Apogee: 35,790 km (22,230 mi). Perigee: 35,782 km (22,233 mi). Inclination: 5.50 deg. Period: 1,436.10 min.
British military communications; 6 deg E. Military communications. Expected life approx 7 years. Owner/operator: Ministry of Defence, Main Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 6 deg E in 1990; 29 deg E in 1991; 65 deg E in 1991; 34 deg W in 1992-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 34.01 deg W drifting at 0.003 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 63.46W drifting at 4.595W degrees per day.
- JCSAT 2 - .
Payload: JCSat 2 / Orbus-7S. Mass: 2,280 kg (5,020 lb). Nation: Japan.
Agency: JCSAT.
Program: JCSAT.
Class: Communications.
Type: Civilian communications satellite. Spacecraft: HS 393.
USAF Sat Cat: 20402 . COSPAR: 1990-001B. Apogee: 35,877 km (22,292 mi). Perigee: 35,868 km (22,287 mi). Inclination: 0.10 deg. Period: 1,440.50 min.
Japanese domestic communications; 154 deg E. Domestic communications. Launching organization Martin Marietta. Launch time 0007 GMT. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 154 deg E in 1990-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 154.04 deg E drifting at 0.006 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 116.78W drifting at 6.255W degrees per day.
1996 January 1
- China to dominate space in 21st Century - . Nation: Russia. Chertok predicted that China would replace Russia as the space superpower within ten to fifteen years..
1996 January 1
- Ukrainian Cosmonaut Training Group selected. - . Nation: Ukraine. Related Persons: Adamchuk, Meytarchan. Ukrainian astronauts trained for flights to the Mir space station..
1998 January 1
- International Cosmonaut Training Group selected. - . Nation: Slovakia. Related Persons: Babiak. Slovak astronaut trained for flights to the Mir space station..
2008 January 1
- ISS On-Orbit Status 01/01/08 - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Love, Malenchenko, Tani, Whitson, Williams, Dave. Program: ISS. Flight: Soyuz TMA-11, STS-120 ISS EO-16. Happy New Year! Crew off-duty day (of course!).. Additional Details: here....