U.S. upper atmosphere research program initiated with captured German V-2 rockets. A V-2 panel of representatives of various interested agencies was created, and a total of more than 60 V-2's were fired before the supply ran out. The Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University then undertook to develop a medium-altitude rocket, the Aerobee, while the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) directed its efforts to the development of a large high-altitude rocket, first called the Neptune, later the Viking.

AF flight 17. Airspeed calibration. Mach 0.9.

Air Force established Project MX-1593 (Project Atlas), study phase for an intercontinental missile. Requirements included 8000-pound warhead, 5000 nautical mile range, to hit within 1500 ft. CEP. $1.5 million study contract was awarded to Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft on January 23. This was the follow-on to Project MX-774 terminated in 1947. Several test vehicles had been fired using residual funds in 1948 and 1949, after which the Convair MX-774 (Atlas) missile project had been shelved. The company, however, had continued to fund a research program.

NACA flight 16. Low-altitude, low-mach reaction-control investigation.

NACA adopted a resolution recommending that the national space program be a cooperative effort by DOD, NACA, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Science Foundation, together with the universities, research institutions, and industrial companies. NACA viewed the development and operation of military space vehicles as the responsibility of DOD, while NACA's primary interest lay in the scientific exploration of space.

Paul E. Purser and Maxime A. Faget conceived of a solid-fuel launch vehicle design for the research and development phase of a manned satellite vehicle project. This launch vehicle was later designated Little Joe. When Project Mecury began in October 1958, the purposeof the Little Joe phase was to propel a full-scale, full-weight developmental version of the manned spacecraft to some of the flight conditions that would be encountered during exit from the atmosphere on an orbital mission. Also, Little Joe tests were used to perfect the escape maneuver in the event of an aborted mission.

Decree 'On separation of OKB-2 from NII-88' was issued.

NASA requested the Army Ordnance Missile Command, Huntsville, Alabama, to construct and launch eight Redstone launch vehicles and two Jupiter launch vehicles in support of Project Mercury manned and unmanned flights.

Spacecraft 16 was delivered to Cape Canaveral for the third manned (Schirra) orbital flight, Mercury-Atlas 8 (MA-8).

Maximum Speed - 5216 kph. Maximum Altitude - 21641 m.

The Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences issued a report outlining research objectives in lunar and planetary exploration for the 1970s and early 1980s. The report affirmed earlier recommendations by the Space Science Board to NASA that unmanned exploration of Mars should have first priority in the post- Apollo space era. Secondary importance was assigned to detailed investigation of the lunar surface and to unmanned Venus probes. Clearly, the report reflected a predominant mood within the scientific community that scientific research in space take predominance over manned programs whose chief objectives, said the report, were 'other than scientific.' - Additional details.

Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Unsuccessful mission. Spacecraft failed to separate from Block I stage. Attempt was made to conduct mission without orientation system. APO self destruct system destroyed spacecraft on 126th revolution over Sea of Okhotsk. First generation, low resolution photo surveillance; recovery probably failed.

A day after the launch of Soyuz 5, Soyuz 4 docked with it. The Soyuz 4 active spacecraft was equipped with a long docking probe, designated 'Shtir'. The Soyuz 5 target spacecraft was equipped with the 'Konus' receptacle. The symbology lead Volynov to joke that he 'was being raped' when the hard docking was accomplished. Khrunov and Yeliseyev transferred to and returned in Soyuz 4, the feat they had hoped to accomplish in the cancelled Soyuz 2 flight almost two years earlier. The external crew transfer was also a test of the technique needed for the Soviet lunar landing.

The space leadership board planes to depart Tyuratam. During the flight to Moscow, Kamanin discusses with Mishin the possibility of purchase of 10 to 15 Soyuz spacecraft by the Ministry of Defence for military experiments. Mishin is very interested in the possibility.

An MSC meeting to realign the Apollo 16-19 lunar orbital science experiments recommended that the Sounding Radar Experiment, S-167, be deleted and the Lunar Electromagnetic Sounder, S-168, should be developed and flown. Scientific-value for the experiments was ranked in the following descending priorities for the various scientific disciplines: geochemistry, particles and fields, imagery and geodesy, surface and subsurface profiles, and atmospheres.

Used in development of aerodynamic systems for stabilisation and orientation of spacecraft. Also carried military optical equipment experiments.

Kamanin's son, also a VVS pilot, is being sent to Hanoi for service. Kamanin writes a letter to Keldysh on the naming of lunar craters for deceased cosmonauts.

The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights. Recruit women and minorities to introduce diversity into the astronaut corps. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. 8,079 applicants, of which half met the basic qualifications. 208 invited for physical tests and interviews. Of the 35 selected, six were women, three were male African-Americans, and one was a male Asian-American.

Soyuz 26 landed at 11:25 GMT with the crew of Dzhanibekov and Makarov aboard.

Military navigation satellite.

Radar calibration mission.

Military topography satellite; returned film capsule; also performed mapping, geodesy.

Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 83 deg W in 1982-1987; 82 deg W in 1987-1991 As of 2 September 2001 located at 171.96 deg E drifting at 2.443 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 101.04W drifting at 2.479W degrees per day.

Replaced Molniya 3-19. Operation of the long-range telephone and telegraph radio communications system in the USSR; transmission of USSR Central Television programmes to stations in the Orbita network and within the framework of international cooperation.

Military cartographic satellite; returned film capsule.

Military navigation satellite. Replaced Cosmos 1577.

Unmanned supply vessel to Mir; raised Mir's orbit. Transported sundry cargoes to the Mir orbital station. Docked with Salyut 7 on 18 Jan 1987 07:26:50 GMT. Undocked on 23 Feb 1987 11:29:01 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 25 Feb 1987 16:05:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.25 days. Total docked time 36.17 days.

Military navigation satellite. Positioned in plane 1 of constellation.

The same decoy set used in IFT-1A was also used in IFT-2. The target cluster consisted of 10 objects: one mock warhead, the bus (the stage of the missile which releases the warhead and decoys), and eight decoys.

Non-intercept fly-by to assess the performance of the Raytheon-built EKV seeker, collect target phenomenological data, and evaluate (post-test) target-modeling and discrimination algorithms. Raytheon was chosen as the NMD EKV contractor, partly as a result of its system's performance on this test.

Military Communications satellite. Launch delayed from December 2001. The Titan core stage shut down 9 min after launch on a suborbital trajectory, and separated from the upper stage, Centaur TC-19. TC-19 made three burns to parking orbit, geostationary transfer orbit, and finally geostationary orbit. It then released Milstar Flt-5. Milstar provided secure communications in the EHF, SHF and UHF bands and would be stationed over European longitudes. As of 2007 Feb 16 located at 29.98E drifting at 0.014W degrees per day.

The last solo shuttle earth orbit mission ended in tragedy when the shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry at an altitude of 63.15 km and a speed of Mach 18. Launch delayed from May 23, June 27, July 11 and 19, November 29, 2002.