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Fifty years ago this week, the United States successfully launched the Echo 1A passive communications satellite into Earth orbit. The 100-foot diameter balloon was among the largest objects ever to orbit the Earth. A plethora of earth-orbiting communication satellites provide for a global connectivity that is commonplace today. Such was not always the… Read More
Fifty-two years ago today, an Atlas B flew 2,500 miles down the Eastern Test Range in a key developmental test of America’s first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Among other historic achievements, the test marked the first successful flight of the innovative stage-and-a-half missile. The infamous Cold War between the United States… Read More
Forty-seven years ago today, the United States successfully orbited the world’s first geosynchronous communications satellite. This accomplishment marked the advent of today’s massive global communications market. A geosynchronous orbit is one in which the orbital period of a satellite is equal to the time it takes the Earth to complete… Read More
Fifty-three years ago today, the United States successfully conducted the only live-fire test of the only known nuclear-armed air-to-air missile ever developed by the West. The test took place over the Nuclear Test Site located at Yucca Flats, Nevada. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States gave rise to the… Read More
Forty-six years ago this month, the United States abandoned a 7-year effort to develop a nuclear-armed, supersonic cruise missile. The joint USAF-AEC program was known as Project Pluto. The centerpiece of this program was the nuclear-fueled, ramjet-powered Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile (SLAM). The 1950’s saw the development of myriad aircraft, missile and submarine concepts designed for delivery of nuclear weaponry… Read More
Sixty-years ago this month, the United States launched a primitive two-stage rocket from an obscure site situated on Florida’s eastern coast. The rocket was the Army’s Bumper-WAC No. 8. The then little-known launch location has since become synonymous with American aerospace achievement. We know it today as Cape Canaveral. The Bumper Program was a… Read More
Forty-three years ago this month, USAF Major William F. “Pete” Knight made an emergency landing in X-15 No. 1 at Mud Lake, Nevada. Knight somehow managed to save the hypersonic aircraft following a complete loss of electrical power as it passed through 107,000 feet during climb. The famed X-15 Program conducted 199 flights between June 1959… Read More
Fifty-nine years ago this month, the No. 1 USAF/Bell X-5 variable-sweep-wing aircraft testbed took to the air for the first time with Bell test pilot Jean “Skip” Ziegler at the controls. The X-5 holds the distinction of being the first aircraft capable of changing its wing sweep while in flight.… Read More
Fifty-seven years ago this month, NACA test pilot A. Scott Crossfield piloted the United States Navy/Douglas D-558-I transonic research aircraft on the last of the type’s 230 flights. The flight was conducted on Wednesday, 10 June 1953 at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Flight near and beyond the speed of sound is characterized by large variations… Read More
Forty-four years ago this month, NASA astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene A. Cernan became the 7th two-man Gemini crew to orbit the Earth. Known as Gemini 9A, the mission was the 13th manned spaceflight flown by the United States. The Gemini Program was absolutely critical to the success of America’s lunar landing effort. A… Read More
