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Space History for September 10

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In 2000 years of observations since 240 BCE, Chinese records have never missed a return of Halley's Comet. From those records, Cowell and Crommelin computed the dates of perihelion passage as:

 1. 15 May 240 BCE
 2. 20 May 163 BCE
 3. 15 August 87 BCE
 4. 8 October 12 BCE
 5. 26 January 66 CE
 6. 25 March 141 CE
 7. 6 April 218 CE
 8. 7 April 295 CE
 9. 13 February 374 CE
10. 3 July 451 CE
11. 15 November 530 CE
12. 26 March 607 CE
13. 26 November 684 CE
14. 10 June 760 CE
15. 25 February 837 CE
16. 17 July 912 CE
17. 2 September 989 CE
18. 25 March 1066 CE
19. 19 April 1145 CE
20. 10 September 1222 CE
21. 22.7 October 1301 CE
22. 8.8 November 1378 CE
23. 8.2 January 1456 CE
24. 25.8 August 1531 CE
25. 26.9 October 1607 CE
26. 14.8 September 1682 CE
27. 12.6 March 1758 CE
28. 15.9 November 1835 CE
29. 19.7 April 1910 CE
30. 9 February 1986 CE

Note that the precision of the dates from passage 21 onward could be computed with increased accuracy because of additional observations. However, at the time of their computation, the 1986 passage was still a future event. (The actual date was found from other sources.)

On 19 April 607, Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approached within 0.0898 AU (13.5 million km, 8.4 million miles) of Earth. On 374-April-1.9, it had approached closer, having come within 0.0884 AU (13.2 million km, 8.2 million miles), and on 837-April-10.5, it became the third closest approach in history prior to 1900, passing within 0.0334 AU (5 million km, 3.1 million miles).

On 16 October 1982, astronomers David Jewitt and G. Edward Danielson using a CCD camera with the 5.1 m Hale telescope at Mt. Palomar Observatory were the first to detect Halley's Comet on its thirtieth recorded return.

See also The past orbit of Halley's Comet (SAO/NASA ADS)

See also Comet Close Approaches prior to 1900 (CNEOS)

See also History of Halley's Comet (Wikipedia)

See also Halley's Comet (CQ Press)

See also Comet 1P/Halley (Halley's Comet) (Smithsonian NASM)

1857
Born, James E. Keeler, US astronomer (studied Saturn's rings, first to observe the gap in Saturn's rings now known as the Encke Gap), founded and edited the Astrophysical Journal with George Hale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Edward_Keeler

1858
G. Searle discovered asteroid #55 Pandora; H. Goldschmidt discovered asteroid #54 Alexandra.

1882
J. Palisa discovered asteroid #231 Vindobona.

1906
Born, Petr Petrovich Chechulin, Director of USSR's Nll-4 (1951-1955) during early research on satellites
http://www.generals.dk/general/Chechulin/Petr_Petrovich/Soviet_Union.html

1929
K. Reinmuth discovered asteroid #1131 Porzia.

1933
Born, Yevgeni Vassilyevich Khrunov (at Prudy, Tula Oblast, Russian SFSR), Colonel Soviet AF, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 5/Soyuz 4; 1d 23.75h in spaceflight), a member of the first crew to transfer between spacecraft (deceased)

Cosmonaut Yevgeny Khrunov portrayed on a 2020 postage stamp
Source: Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Khrunov

1936
E. Delporte discovered asteroid #1476 Cox.

1945
Born, Richard Michael "Mike" Mullane (at Wichita Falls, Texas, USA), Colonel USAF, NASA astronaut (STS 41-D, STS 27, STS 36; over 14d 20.25h total time in spaceflight)

Astronaut R. Mike Mullane, NASA photo S78-35295 (19 September 1978)
Source: Wikipedia (www.jsc.nasa.gov unavailable September 2019)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Mullane

1948
P. Shajn discovered asteroid #1735 ITA.

1962
A fire caused serious damage in the pure-oxygen atmosphere of a simulated Air Force space cabin.

Fire broke out in a simulated space cabin at the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, on 10 September 1962, the 13th day of a 14 day experiment to determine the effects of breathing pure oxygen in a long duration space flight. One of the two Air Force officers was seriously injured. The cause of the fire was not immediately determined. The experiment was part of a NASA program to validate the use of a 5 psia pure oxygen atmosphere for the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft.

Failing to take notice of the fundamental problem ultimately led to the deaths of astronauts Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire on 27 January 1967.

1969
L. Chernykh discovered asteroid #2352 Kurchatov.

1978
E. F. Helin discovered asteroid #2100 Ra-Shalom; P. Wild discovered asteroid #2262 Mitidika.

1992 23:04:00 GMT
An Ariane 44LP launched from Kourou carried Spain's Hispasat 1A and GE Americom's Satcom C3 communications satellites to space, which were initially positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 30 deg W and 143 deg W, respectively.
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1992-060A

2000 00:51:00 CDT (GMT -5:00:00)
NASA's STS 106 (Atlantis 22) docked at the ISS for International Space Station Flight 2A.2b to prepare the station for permanant habitation.

STS 106 was launched 8 September 2000 from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B after a smooth countdown. The inital orbit of 72 x 328 km x 51.6 deg was circularised by the Shuttle's OMS engines at apogee.

Of nearly 12 days in orbit, STS 106 spent seven docked with the International Space Station, preparing the ISS for the arrival of the first residents in its permanent habitation, the Expedition One crew. Atlantis docked with the PMA-2 adapter on the International Space Station at 05:51 GMT on 10 September.

The STS 106 crew spent five days, 9 hours and 21 minutes inside the International Space Station. The seven crewmembers completed a long checklist aimed at making the station a home for its first residents, who would arrive about five weeks later to stay for more than four months. Acting as plumbers, movers, installers and electricians, the astronauts installed batteries, power converters, a toilet and a treadmill on the orbiting outpost. They also delivered more than 2,993 kilograms (6,600 pounds) of supplies.

Astronauts Lu and Malenchenko performed a spacewalk beginning at 04:47 GMT on 11 September. They rode the RMS arm up to the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module and began installing power, data and communications cables, reaching a distance of 30 meters from the airlock when installing Zvezda's magnetometer. The total EVA duration was 6 hours 21 minutes.

Atlantis' thrusters were fired four times to boost the station's altitude by 22.5 kilometers (14 miles).

The Shuttle undocked from ISS at 03:44 GMT on 18 September. After undocking, Pilot Scott Altman moved Atlantis to a distance of about 137 meters (450 feet) from the station, and made two circuits of the station, each lasting half an orbit, as the rest of the crew photographed its exterior for documentation. The final separation maneuver was executed at 05:34 GMT.

The payload bay doors were closed at 04:14 GMT on 20 September, and at 06:50 GMT, the OMS engines ignited for a three minute burn lowering the orbit from 374 x 386 km x 51.6 deg to 22 x 380 km x 51.6 deg. After entry interface at 07:25 GMT, STS 106 ended 20 September 2000 when Atlantis landed on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, with main gear touchdown at 07:56:48 GMT, for a mission duration of 11 days, 19 hours, 10 minutes.

The flight crew for STS 106 was: Terrence Wilcutt, Commander; Scott D. Altman, Pilot; Edward T. Lu, Mission Specialist 1; Richard A. Mastracchio, Mission Specialist 2; Daniel C. Burbank, Mission Specialist 3; Yuri I. Malenchenko, Mission Specialist 4; Boris V. Morukov, Mission Specialist 5.

2002 08:20:00 GMT
The first operational flight of Japan's H-2A booster, launched from Tanegashima, carried Japan's USERS (Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System) and DRTS (Data Relay Transponder Satellite) spacecaft to orbit.
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2002-042A

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