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May 28 In Space History:585 BC (going waaaaay back): The "Battle of the Eclipse" ended a war between two ancient nations because a solar eclipse caused the warring factions to believe that their gods wanted an end to the hostilities. Since eclipses can be calculated for past and future dates, this is one of the earliest historical events for which the precise date is known. (Thanks Wikipedia) 1959 (ok, back to AD): Able and Miss Baker, the first "space monkeys" to return from space alive, were launched and recovered unscathed after a 9-minute suborbital flight in the nosecone of a Jupiter MRBM. Go primates! (Thanks @SpacemensLuck) 1962: The USSR launches the Kosmos 5 satellite, which spent a year in orbit on a scientific research and testing mission. 1964: NASA launches Saturn 6, an unmanned test of the Saturn I rocket which would evolve into the launchers to carry astronauts to Earth orbit and to the Moon. (Thanks Mark Wade) 2002: Scientists working on the Mars Odyssey orbiter program announce that large quantities of water ice were detected beneath the surface of Mars. (Thanks @airandspace) Look for hashtag #TISH on our Twitter feed for more Today In Space History! At 10:56 p.m. EDT on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong descended the ladder of the Apollo 11 lunar module, becoming the first man to walk on the moon. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,534129,00.html Forty years ago this evening, a man walked on the moon for the first time, a moment that will stand for millennia as one of humanity's most remarkable achievements.
President Bush issued a statement that day to a stunned nation. The cause of the accident was later determined to be a breach in the leading edge of the left wing, which allowed a blast of superheated air to melt the underlying structure, ripping the orbiter apart as it was flying at Mach 18 across the American South. The hole was caused by a briefcase-sized chunk of foam insulation coming loose from the external tank and striking the wing during liftoff. The damage to the heat shield would lead to the destruction of the spacecraft, and the suspension of Shuttle flights for over 2 years.
Mission STS-51L was the 25th Shuttle flight, and it carried the first "Teacher In Space", Christa McAuliffe. The Challenger, (OV-99), was the second orbiter built, and had completed 9 successful missions (starting with STS-6 in 1983) before the awful incident, which was caused by O-rings in the right solid rocket booster becoming brittle in the winter cold. The accident rocked the nation and became embedded in the minds of an entire generation. The remains of some crewmembers were buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery, and the wreckage of the spacecraft is sealed in a missile silo at Cape Canaveral. NASA grounded the Shuttle program for more than two years while safety improvements were made. The Challenger Learning Centers, dedicated to space science education, were founded in honor of the crew. Remember the brave men and women of Challenger, Apollo 1, and Columbia!
This week will see remembrances of the three tragedies whose anniversaries fall so closely on the calendar: Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia. Never forget the heroes of space exploration!
Below are some YouTube videos about the anniversary.
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