German engineer, V-2 test leader. At end of war headed development of Taifun unguided antiaircraft rocket, characterized as a 'desperation project'. Went to America after the war, working at Fort Bliss. Later returned to Germany and died in Lenningen in 2008.

The Wasserfall surface to air missile was launched from a table, as was the V-2. The missile was optically steered to its target, and had a potential range of 26 km and ceiling of 18 km, with a flight speed of 600 m/s. Goering observed the first launch from Test Stand IX. He was immensely fat, wearing a fantastical outfit, downing pills every five minutes, and uninterested in the proceedings. Dornberger ruefully noted that the Reich is losing the war due to the leadership's shortsightedness. They had not accepted Von Braun's rocket plans in 1939 or the Panzerfaust in 1942. They only became interested in the latter when the first American bazooka fell into German hands in Tunisia.

A second Space Task Group Air Force Ballistic Missile Division meeting, held at Langley Research Center, continued the task of developing a coordinated Project Mercury effort. The space agency offered a tentative launch and test program and the missile division assisted in preparing a development plan. Schedules, operating procedures, funding and general allocation of responsibilities were discussed but the meeting was not marked by any major agreements. (Rpt, AFBMD Support, Proj Mercury, Dec 1960 prep by AFBMD Space Div (WDZ.)

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On plans for the military use of space during the period 1961-65' was issued. This formalised the first true military space plans - prior to that date only the Zenit-2 and Zenit-4 reconnaissance satellites had been authorised. The following missions were identified:

• Photo reconnaissance / cartography
• ELINT
• Television reconnaissance
• Communications satellites
• Ocean reconnaissance
• Navigation
• Meteorology
• Training/target objects
• Geodesy

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On approval of work on the Molniya-1 communications satellite and Meteor-1 weather satellite' was issued. Thedecree authorised work on the Molniya-1M production model, providing international communications on the centimetre band. But the protoype Molniya-1 worked so well that it was taken directly into service, and the -1M was skipped.

NASA announced the signing of a contract with the Space and Information Systems Division of NAA for the development and production of the second stage (S-II) of the Saturn C-5 launch vehicle. The $319.9-million contract, under the direction of Marshall Space Flight Center, covered the production of nine live flight stages, one inert flight stage, and several ground-test units for the advanced Saturn launch vehicle. NAA had been selected on September 11, 1961, to develop the S-II.

NASA canceled four manned earth orbital flights with the Saturn I launch vehicle. Six of a series of 10 unmanned Saturn I development flights were still scheduled. Development of the Saturn IB for manned flight would be accelerated and "all-up" testing would be started. This action followed Bellcomm's recommendation of a number of changes in the Apollo spacecraft flight test program. The program should be transferred from Saturn I to Saturn IB launch vehicles; the Saturn I program should end with flight SA-10. All Saturn IB flights, beginning with SA-201, should carry operational spacecraft, including equipment for extensive testing of the spacecraft systems in earth orbit.

Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight George E. Mueller had recommended the changeover from the Saturn I to the Saturn IB to NASA Administrator James E. Webb on October 26. Webb's concurrence came two days later.

The Defense Department and NASA announced that the Thrust Augmented Thor (TAT) space booster developed by the Air Force would be added to the national launch vehicles program as a booster for Agena. The TAT increased total thrust to over 330,000 pounds and would improve the Delta's payload into earth orbit from 800 to 1,000 pounds.

Initial tests were from the old South Base area of Edwards. Research pilot Joe Walker flew it three times for a total of just under 60 seconds to a peak altitude of ten ft (3 m). Later flights were shared between Walker; another Center pilot, Don Mallick; the Army's Jack Kleuver; and NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, pilots Joseph Algranti and H.E. 'Bud' Ream.

North American conducted the first drop test of boilerplate 28 at Downey, Calif. The test simulated the worst conditions that were anticipated in a three-parachute descent and water landing. The second drop, it was expected, would likewise simulate a landing on two parachutes. The drop appeared normal, but the spacecraft sank less than four minutes after hitting the water. Additional Details: here....

Confirming an October 27 telephone conversation, ASPO Manager George M. Low recommended to Apollo Program Director Samuel C. Phillips that the following LM delivery schedule be incorporated into official documentation: LM-2, February 5, 1968; LM-3, April 6, 1968; LM-4, June 6, 1968. Subsequent vehicles would be delivered on two-month centers. The dates had been provided by Grumman during the last Program Management Review.

A parachute test (Apollo Drop Test 84-1) failed at EI Centro, Calif. The parachute test vehicle (PTV) was dropped from a C-133A aircraft at an altitude of 9,144 meters to test a new 5-meter drogue chute and to investigate late deployment of one of the three main chutes. Additional Details: here....

Docking target craft for Cosmos 186, which achieved world's first automatic rendezvous on second attempt. Hard docking achieved but electric connections unsuccessful due to misallignment of spacecraft. Ion flow sensor failed and Cosmos 188 had to make a high-G uncontrolled re-entry. When it deviated too far off course, it was destroyed by the on-board self-destruct system,. However officially the Soviet Union reported that it landed succesfully on November 2, 1967 at 09:10 GMT, and that its mission was 'investigation of outer space, development of new systems and elements to be used in the construction of space devices'. Additional Details: here....

NASA began the design, bidding, and source selection process leading to a single national space shuttle. At the beginning the design was known by the same nomenclature previously used by the USAF - Integrated Launch and Re-entry Vehicle (ILRV). The development program was seen as: Phase A: Advanced Studies; Phase B: Project Definition; Phase C: Vehicle Design; and Phase D: Production and Operations. Four contractors or contractor teams were to be selected in Phase A; two contractors or teams for Phase B; and then a single contractor for Phases C and D (which were later combined). NASA Houston and Huntsville jointly issued the Request for Proposal for eight-month Phase A ILRV studies. The requirements were for 2,300 to 23,000 kg of payload to be delivered into a 500-km altitude orbit. The re-entry vehicle should have a cross range of at least 725 km (NASA persisted in this requirement even though it knew the USAF needed more). General Dynamics, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas, Martin Marietta, and North American Rockwell all were invited to bid.

The Space Shuttle Main Engine competition was run in parallel with the main shuttle development project, and also had four phases. Oversight for this program came from the USAF Space Division and its subcontractor, the Aerospace Corporation. Despite promising classified work on linear and conventional aerospike engines at the time, NASA dictated that the design had to use a conventional bell nozzle.

Telemetry analysis has shown Soyuz 3 used 30 kg of propellant during 20 minutes of manoeuvring in the automatic regime during docking, followed by 40 kg consumed in two minutes of manual manoeuvring. Essentially Beregovoi was trying to dock the spacecraft upside down. This was either due to incorrect configuration of the running lights or cosmonaut error. Soyuz 2 had two continuously illuminated lights on its upper side and two blinking lights on the lower side. Evidently Beregovoi didn't identify these correctly in weightlessness.

In case Beregovoi has to do a ballistic re-entry, Be-2 seaplanes are in the air in case of a splashdown in the Aral Sea. On his 81st revolution, Beregovoi manually oriented the spacecraft for retrofire, then engaged the vertical sensor and ion orientation system. But the spacecraft hit on ion pocket and it took two to three minutes for the automated system to engage. Retrofire started 3 seconds late, coming at 9:45:05 and continuing for 149 seconds, producing a delta V of 95 m/s. The main parachute deployed at 10:12:24 at 7000 m altitude. Beregovoi spent 13 minutes under the main parachute, descending at 4 to 5 m/s. Soyuz 3 landed 10 km from the aimpoint at 07:25 GMT.

Shatalov and Yeliseyev are selected as the prime crew to man DOS#1. This selection is made even though they have both made two flights already and other cosmonauts have been waiting six years with no flight assignment. The choice is due to the role of the pilot, who it is felt must have prior docking experience. Kamanin reviews the training schedule for the pair, plus a tour of India they will have to make before the flight.

More MKBS military applications (possibly as a communications station with submerged submarines) are mentioned. More MKBS military applications (possibly as a communications station with submerged submarines) are mentioned (Mishin Diaries 2-294): "Chembrovsky - On the application of long waves (1 km) to the MKBS". (Mishin Diaries 2-294)

ASAT interceptor. Intercept on second orbit. Blown up on instructions from ground. Dual launch of interceptors was intended to help ground staff perfect computational methods for quick-response launches when orbital methods of target were not precisely known.

Request for Proposals were sent to Grumman/Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas/Martin Marrietta, and North American Rockwell for final proposals for Shuttle full-scale development. However the NASA specifications kept shifting. In December 1971 NASA decided to require parallel burn of the shuttle orbiter and booster stages, so the bid due date was shifted from 15 December 1971 to 1 June 1972.

Magnetospheric investigations. Investigation of the corpuscular and electromagnetic radiation of the sun, of solar plasma fluxes and of the magnetic fields in circumterrestrial space in order to determine the effects of solar activity on the interplanetary medium and the magnetosphere of the earth; investigation of galactic ultraviolet rays, X-rays and gamma rays. In addition to Soviet apparatus, carried scientific apparatus produced in the USSR, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, France, the Hungarian People's Republic and Sweden.

Successful state acceptance test flight of Yantar-4K1 satellite. Led to Yantar-4K1 acceptance for Red Army service the following year. High resolution photo reconnaissance; returned film in two small SpK capsules during the mission and with the main capsule at completion of the mission.

Venera 13 and 14 were identical spacecraft built to take advantage of the 1981 Venus launch opportunity and launched 5 days apart. After launch and a four month cruise to Venus, the descent vehicle separated and plunged into the Venus atmosphere on 1 March 1982. As it flew by Venus the bus acted as a data relay for the brief life of the descent vehicle, and then continued on into a heliocentric orbit. After the descent vehicle braked to subsonic speed a parachute was deployed. At an altitude of 47 km the parachute was released and simple airbraking was used the rest of the way to the surface. Venera 13 landed about 950 km northeast of Venera 14 at 7 deg 30 min S, 303 E, just east of the eastern extension of an elevated region known as Phoebe Regio. The area was composed of bedrock outcrops surrounded by dark, fine-grained soil. After landing an imaging panorama was started and a mechanical drilling arm reached to the surface and obtained a sample, which was deposited in a hermetically sealed chamber, maintained at 30 degrees C and a pressure of about .05 atmospheres. The composition of the sample, as determined by the X-ray flourescence spectrometer, put it in the class of weakly differentiated melanocratic alkaline gabbroids. The lander survived for 127 minutes (the planned design life was 32 minutes) in an environment with a temperature of 457 degrees C and a pressure of 84 Earth atmospheres. The bus carried instruments built by Austrian and French specialists, as well as Soviet scientific equipment.

Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 15 deg W in 1983-1987; 66 deg E in 1987; 60 deg E in 1987-1994; 65 deg E in 1994-1997 As of 5 September 2001 located at 114.00 deg W drifting at 18.661 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 172.94E drifting at 18.658W degrees per day. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C).

Manned eight crew. Launched GLOMR; carried Spacelab D1. Payloads: Spacelab D-1 with habitable module and 76 experiments. Six of the eight crew members were divided into a blue and red team working 12-hour shifts for 24-hour-a-day operation. The remaining two crew members were 'switch hitters.'.

Mobile communications; 64.5 deg E. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 65 deg E in 1990-1996; 179 deg E in 1996-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 178.97 deg E drifting at 0.004 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 8 located at 143.50E drifting at 0.015W degrees per day.

Transmission of television programmes to a network of multiple user receiving stations. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 99 deg E in 1992-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 79.69 deg E drifting at 0.201 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 78.67E drifting at 0.192E degrees per day.

The crew opened the hatch at 1338 UTC and closed this behind them at 1750 UTC, so the duration of this EVA was 4 hrs and 12 mins. They fully accomplished their tasks: the experiment Panorama, during which Sererbrov made video-images of the outer surface of the station, they removed samples of materials which had been exposed to open space and placed new samples and on instructions from experts on earth they carried out an inspection of objects on the outside, for instance the solar panels. They also carried out prophylactic work. Most of the radio-communications was relayed by the satellite Altair. During the first 2 passes for our position the EVA was still going on and the radio-traffic could be heard on VHF as well as on Altair. During the pass in orbit 44010, 1742-1752 UTC, the cosmonauts returned to the airlock and they told TsUP that they were ready to close the hatch on TsUP's command. So they did at 1750 UTC and they immediately started with the equalisation of the pressures between the airlock (S.Sh.O.) and the Instrument-Scientific compartment (P.N.O.). OM Peter monitored phone as well as TV-images and in co-ordination with him I was able to determine that all went well during this EVA. During the first communication session via Altair after the EVA the cosmonauts transmitted images made during the EVA to TsUP. So OM Peter could see how the crew during their EVA jettisoned an old (probably no longer usable)EVA or spacesuit. They succeeded in sending away this dummy in such a shape that it looked like someone who saluted like a soldier. After analyses of the monitored radio-traffic I hope to tell something about the crew's assessment of the damage, which had been caused by micro-meteorites around 12.08.93.

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

China's first navigation satellite, developed by CAST/Beijing. The satellite, the first in the Beidou-1 constellation, was placed in an initial 195 x 41889 km x 25.0 deg orbit geostationary transfer orbit before entering its final geosynchornous orbit at around 05:00 GMT on November 6. Stationed at 140 deg E, still maintaining its position within 0.1 deg as of 2007. No longer in use as of 2009.

First launch attempt in the HyShot Flight Program. The scramjet payload was to be used to verify pressure measurements made of supersonic combustion in The University of Queensland's T4 shock tunnel by those made in an actual flight. A failure of stabilising fins meant that the rocket fell far short of the planned 330-km apogee and the scramjet experiment was not conducted.

Launch delayed from October 22, 28 pending investigation of causes of failure of another Soyuz booster on 15 October. Soyuz-TMA 1 was a Russian automatic passenger craft. It carried the EP-4 visiting crew of three astronauts (two Russians and one Belgian) to automatically dock with the International Space Station (ISS). This was the first flight of the new Soyuz-TMA model. It was to remain parked at the ISS as the escape craft, relieving the Soyuz TM-34. The crew conducted several microgravity experiments on the ISS during their 10-day stay before returning in Soyuz TM-34.

The mission of the 'Space Environment Reliability Verification of Integrated System' was to flight test a range of commerical-grade spacecraft components including a computer, star tracker, battery, and laser gyro. The objective was to lower the cost of future satellites.

The astronauts emerged from the Quest hatch at 08:44 GMT. They assisted in the mating of the P6 to P5 trusses and deployment of a radiator from P6. Wheelock transferred a spare Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) from the Shuttle bay to the External Stowage Platform 3 (ESP3). P6 solar array wing 2B was successfully redeployed; but deployment of array 4B had to be halted when a tear developed in the solar panel.

Space station resupply. Docked with the Pirs module of the ISS on 2 November. This restored resupply of the station after the Progress M-12M launch failure and two intermediate successful flights of the Soyuz booster. Also carried the Chibis-M subsatellite.

Launched from a sub in the Barents Sea to Kura. One of a series of missiles launched on the same day as part of a large scale Russian military exercise. One Iskander-M and three Tochka-U short range missiles were also launched from Kapustin Yar to unknown targets