Preliminary specifications to modify the Mercury capsule by adding a reentry control navigation system. Preliminary specifications were issued by Space Task Group (STG) to modify the Mercury capsule by adding a reentry control navigation system. The modified capsule would obtain a small lifting capability (lift-over-drag ratio would equal approximately 0.26). The self-contained capsule navigation system would consist of a stable platform, a digital computer, a possible star tracker, and the necessary associated electronic equipment. Dispersion from the predicted impact point would be less than 10 miles. The prospective development called for a prototype to be delivered to NASA for testing in February 1961; and first qualified system, or Modification I, to be delivered by August 1961; and the final qualified system, or Modification II, to be delivered by January 1962. STG anticipated that four navigational systems (not including prototype or qualification units) would be required.

John C. Houbolt of the Langley Research Center presented a paper at the National Aeronautical Meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers in New York City in which the problems of rendezvous in space with the minimum expenditure of fuel were considered. Additional Details: here....

As usual, Herbert York, McNamara's Director of Defense, Research, and Engineering, was hostile to the concept. It was approved only on the condition that Gerneral Schriever, Commander of the Air Research and Development Command, fund it from the existing budget by cutting back other programmes.

Maximum Speed - 4586 kph. Maximum Altitude - 54860 m. The X-15 was flown in a test of a new automatic control system to be used in the Dyna-Soar and Apollo spacecraft. The previous electronic control system had been automatic only while the X-15 was in the atmosphere; the new system was automatic in space as well. Air dropped in Hidden Hills DZ.

The Apollo 204 Review Board transmitted its final formal report on the fire to the NASA Administrator. The Board noted that the reliability of the CM and the entire system involved in its operation was a requirement common to both safety and mission success. It followed that protection from fire as a hazard required much more than quick egress. The risk of fire was only one factor pertaining to CM reliability that must receive adequate consideration. Design features and operating procedures intended to reduce the fire risk must not introduce other serious risks to mission success and safety. Additional Details: here....

When DOS#1 was cleared for flight, it still had 182 discrepancies, of which only 10 were duplicates and 20 were purely cosmetic. Preparations for launch of Soyuz 10 were complicated by problems with the logic of the abort system. This was supposed to put the spacecraft in a purely ballistic re-entry mode. Additional Details: here....

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On use of Molniya and Ekran for a unified satellite communications system' was issued. The YeSSS was defined as the Molniya-2 in elliptical orbit and Raduga (Statsionar) in geosynchronous orbit.

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).

Carried Oleg Makarov, Vasili Lazarev for rendezvous with Salyut 4; but during second-third stage seperation third stage failed to separate from second stage but still ignited. The crew demanded that the abort procedures be implemented but ground control could not see the launch vehicle gyrations in their telemetry. Soyuz finally was separated from by ground control command at 192 km, and following a 20.6+ G reentry, the capsule landed in the Altai mountains, tumbled down a mountainside, and snagged in some bushes just short of a precipice. The crew was worried that they may have landed in China and would face internment, but after an hour sitting in the cold next to the capsule, they were discovered by locals speaking Russian. Total flight duration was 1574 km and flight time 21 minutes 27 seconds. Lazarev suffered internal injuries from the high-G reentry and tumble down the mountain side and never flew again. Both cosmonauts were denied their 3000 ruble spaceflight bonus pay and had to apeal all the way to Brezhnev before being paid.

Manned five crew. Unscheduled EVA to manually deploy the Gamma-Ray Observatory's high-gain antenna, which failed to deploy upon ground command. Payloads: Gamma-Ray Observatory (GRO), Crew/ Equipment Translation Aids (part of Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Experiment), Ascent Particle Monitor (APM), Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BlMDA), Protein Crystal Growth (PCG)-Block Il, Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element (SHARE)-ll, Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)-ll, Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lIl, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test.

Astrophysical laboratory for gamma ray observations; deployed from STS-37 4/7/91; renamed Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was intentionally deorbited on by NASA over the objections of the scientific community on June 3, 2000. NASA decided to end the mission after several orientation gyroscope failures. They felt that if another gyroscope was lost, the heavy spacecraft might eventually reenter out of control.

Based on the success of the film Apollo 13, Tom Hanks was able to raise $ 68 million to film a television mini-series covering the entire Apollo program. The Apollo 13 episode marked the third fictionalised telling of the tale, this time concentrating on the media handling of the flight and the changing nature of television news. Additional Details: here....

SJ-10 microgravity experiment satellite launched into low orbit. SJ-10 was based on the old FSW recoverable film-based spy satellites. The main experiment section separated and returned to Earth at the end of the mission. Shi Jian-10 microgravity satellite's reentry vehicle separated from the service module on Apr 18 at 0815 UTC and landed in China at 0830 UTC. The service module remains in a 253 x 269 km orbit, recataloged as a new object. It adjusted its orbit on Apr 22 but as of May 18 had not made further maneuvers.