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Space History for February 7
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1824
Born, William Higgins, English astronomer (discovered the nature of spiral nebulae)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Huggins
1834
Born, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, Russian chemist, inventor of the Periodic table of elements
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (7 February 1834 - 20 January 1907) was a Russian chemist who became known as one of two scientists who created the first version of the Periodic Table of Elements. On 6 March 1869, a formal presentation was made to the Russian Chemical Society, entitled The Dependence Between the Properties of the Atomic Weights of the Elements, he stated that the elements were arranged in a pattern which allowed him to predict the properties of elements yet to be discovered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Ivanovich_Mendeleev
1878
J. Palisa discovered asteroid #182 Elsa.
1889
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific held its first meeting in San Francisco, California, with Dr. Edward S. Holden, director of the Lick Observatory, as its founder and first president.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1939PASP...51....5A
1896
M. Wolf discovered asteroid #415 Palatia.
1907
Born, Yuri Aleksandrovich Pobedonostsev, Russian aerospace engineer, Chief Engineer of Nll-88 (1946-49), then Chief Engineer of Nll-125
http://weebau.com/history/pobedonostsev.htm
1913
J. H. Metcalf discovered asteroid #739 Mandeville.
1919
K. Reinmuth discovered asteroid #909 Ulla.
1926
Born, Konstantin P. Feoktistov (at Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast, Russian SFSR), Soviet cosmonaut (Voskhod 1; 24h 17m in spaceflight), space engineer (deceased)
Konstantin Petrovich Feoktistov (7 February 1926 - 21 November 2009) was a Soviet cosmonaut and space engineer. He graduated from the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School as an engineer, and received a doctorate in physics. He joined Mikhail Tikhonravov's OKB (design bureau), and in 1955 formed part of the team that designed the Sputnik, Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz spacecraft under the leadership of Sergey Korolev. Dr. Feoktistov also worked on a design for an ion powered spacecraft capable of taking humans to Mars.
In 1964 Dr. Feoktistov was selected as part of a group of engineers for cosmonaut training, and was assigned to the multi-disciplinary Voskhod 1 crew. His training for further space missions was cancelled for medical reasons.
Dr. Feoktistov continued his space engineering work, and became head of the Soviet space design bureau that designed the Salyut and Mir space stations.
As of 2003, he was deputy head of the mission control centre at Baikonur.
Dr. Feoktistov passed away on 21 November 2009 in Moscow.
Cosmonaut Konstantin Feoktistov in Star City (1 July 1965)
Photo from Russian International News Agency (RIA Novosti)
Source: Wikipedia
http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/cosmonauts/english/feoktistov_konstantin.htm
1927
O. Oikawa discovered asteroid #1584 Fuji.
1932
Born, Alfred Merrill Worden (at Jackson, Michigan, USA), Colonel USAF, NASA astronaut (Apollo 15 Command Module pilot; nearly 12d 7.25h in spaceflight) (deceased)
Astronaut Alfred M. Worden, NASA photo (7 October 1971)
Source: Wikipedia (www.jsc.nasa.gov unavailable February 2020)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Worden
1934
Tupelo, Mississippi began receiving power under the first TVA contract, signed 27 October 1933. It is contracts such as this which are expected to ultimately fund the space program proposed by The L5 Development Group.
https://www.djournal.com/news/tva-tupelo-link-set-city-s-path-to-future/article_bc90aeba-e244-507b-a203-fe9f26fcd5f2.html
1935
K. Reinmuth discovered asteroid #1720 Niels; and S. Arend discovered asteroid #2084 Okayama.
1938
K. Reinmuth discovered asteroids #1481 Tubingia, #1674 Neveld and #2022 West.
1959
A Cessna 172 was landed in Las Vegas after 65 days in flight, accomplished by refueling in the air, setting an endurance record that still stands.
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2008/march/01/endurance-test-circa-1958
1967 03:21:00 GMT
USSR launched Cosmos 140 which had orbital data similar to a manned flight, a possible precursor to the 23 April flight of Soyuz 1.
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1967-009A
1968 10:43:54 GMT
USSR launched Luna E-6LS No.112, initially identified by NASA as Luna 1968A. The intended Lunar orbiter mission failed when the spacecraft did not achieve Earth orbit.
Luna E-6LS No.112, initially designated as Luna 1968A by NASA and tentatively identified as an attempted launch to reach Lunar orbit, was launched 7 February 1967 on a Molniya-M 8K78M carrier rocket with a Blok-L upper stage. The rocket and spacecraft failed to reach Earth orbit when the rocket ran out of fuel 524.6 seconds after launch due to a fuel valve or inlet becoming stuck during third stage flight.
In their preliminary assessment, NASA remarked that "presumably the Luna probe itself was equipped similarly to the later Luna 14 probe." Subsequently released information revealed it was a 1,700-kilogram (3,700 lb) Luna E-6LS spacecraft intended to enter Lunar orbit to study the Moon and demonstrate technology for future manned Lunar missions.
See also Tentatively Identified Missions and Launch Failures (NASA)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_E-6LS_No.112
1976
At the time the world's largest telescope, a 600 cm instrument began operation 40km from the village Zelenchukskaya in the USSR.
https://historystack.com/event/11499-world's_largest_telescope_600_cm_begins_operation_in_zelenchukskaya_ussr
1977 16:12:00 GMT
USSR launched Soyuz 24 to dock with the Salyut 5 space station.
Soyuz 24 was launched 7 February 1977 to dock with the Salyut 5 space station. The main objective was to investigate the atmosphere on the station to see if it was toxic and had an effect on the crew of the Soyuz 21 contributing to the problems they had at the end of their flight: The crew of Soyuz 21 had experienced psychological and physical problems during their stay on the station, thought to be mainly due to their becoming emotional, not following physical training, and developing an unreasonable desire to return to Earth. However, there was also speculation that some fuel had leaked into the living areas. This prompted the Soviets to design equipment that could be used to completely change the air of the station by releasing compressed air to create a breeze and venting the contaminated atmosphere through the airlock. The Soyuz 24 cosmonauts entered the station wearing breathing masks because of the possible contamination, but they found that the station atmosphere free of any toxins. It was decided to perform the venting experiment anyway to prove it was possible in case of any need in the future. Air was released from the forward end of the station while simultaneously being replaced from storage tanks in the Soyuz 24 orbital module.
The main purpose of the mission appears to have been to tie up loose ends left by the precipitous departure of the Soyuz 21 crew. They loaded the Salyut 5 Earth-return capsule with samples and film, which detached the day after their departure from the station, and was recovered 26 February 1977. The Soyuz 24 crew also conducted Earth observation and materials sciences experiments, but their planned EVA was cancelled because of the venting exercise.
Soyuz 24 was short by space station standards, less than 18 total days, with its landing on 25 February 1977 36 km northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. The Soviets said, however, that it was a busy and successful mission, accomplishing nearly as much as the earlier Soyuz 21's 50 day mission.
The Soyuz 24 flight crew was cosmonauts Viktor Gorbatko and Yuri Glazkov.
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1977-008A
1984
NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II became the first human being to fly untethered in space when he exited Challenger during the STS 41-B Shuttle mission and maneuvered freely. Astronaut Robert L. Stewart then joined him in a similar MMU test.
STS 41-B was launched 3 February 1984 after being delayed five days to swap out the auxiliary power units (APUs) following problems on the previous Shuttle mission.
The first untethered space walks, by McCandless and Stewart, were made using the Manned Maneuvering Unit system. The WESTAR-VI and PALAPA-B2 satellites were deployed, but failure of the Payload Assist Module-D (PAM-D) rocket motors left them in radical low-Earth orbits. The German-built Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS), which was first flown on STS-7, became the first satellite refurbished and flown again. SPAS remained in payload bay due to electrical problem with remote manipulator system (RMS). The RMS manipulator foot restraint was first used, and practice procedures were performed for the Solar Maximum satellite retrieval and repair planned for the next mission. The Integrated Rendezvous Target (IRT) experiment failed due to an internal failure.
Five Get Away Special (GAS) canisters were flown in the cargo bay, and the Cinema-360 camera was used by the crew. Other payloads on STS 41-B were: the Acoustic Containerless Experiment System (ACES); the Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR); the Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME), and the Isoelectric Focusing (IEF) payload.
STS 41-B ended on 11 February 1984 when Challenger landed on revolution 128 on Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center, Florida in the first end-of-mission landing at KSC. Rollout distance: 10,807 feet. Rollout time: 67 seconds. Launch weight: 250,452 pounds. Landing weight: 201,238 pounds. Orbit altitude: 189 nautical miles. Orbit inclination: 28.5 degrees. Mission duration: seven days, 23 hours, 15 minutes, 55 seconds. Miles traveled: 3.3 million.
The flight crew for STS 41-B was: Vance D. Brand, Commander; Robert L. Gibson, Pilot; Bruce McCandless II, Mission Specialist; Ronald E. McNair, Mission Specialist; Robert L. Stewart, Mission Specialist.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-41B.html
1991 04:00:00 GMT
The USSR Salyut 7 space station, with Cosmos 1686 (a modified TKS ferry) attached, burned up in the atmosphere over Argentina during re-entry.
USSR launched Cosmos 1686 on 27 September 1985, a modified version of the cancelled TKS manned ferry, which docked with the Salyut 7 space station. Officially, the flight was for testing the equipment, assemblies and design components of a satellite in various modes of flight, including joint flight with the Salyut-7 station. All landing systems were removed from the VA re-entry capsule and replaced with military optical sensor experiments (infrared telescope and Ozon spectrometer). The spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere together with the Salyut 7 station over Argentina on 7 February 1991. It re-entered with an unused 3 meter diameter recoverable capsule of 2-3,000 kg mass, solid rocket motors, and cesium sensors.
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1982-033A
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1985-086A
1999
NASA launched the Stardust Mission as a coma sample-return mission to rendevous with comet Wild 2.
The Stardust Mission spacecraft was launched 7 February 1999. The probe flew past asteroid #5535 Anne Frank on 2 November 2002, passing within 3000 km. On 2 January 2004, Stardust flew within 236 kilometers (147 miles) of Comet Wild 2 and captured thousands of particles in its aerogel collector for return on Earth on 15 January 2006. Findings from the historic encounter revealed a much stranger world than previously believed. The comet's rigid surface, dotted with towering pinnacles, plunging craters, steep cliffs, and dozens of jets spewing violently, surprised scientists.
https://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_%28spacecraft%29
2001 17:13:00 CST (GMT -6:00:00)
NASA launched STS 98 (Atlantis, 102nd Shuttle mission) for the International Space Station Flight 5A mission, which delivered the Destiny Lab to the ISS.
STS 98 was launched 7 February 2001 and spent almost 13 days in an orbit at an altitude of 177 nautical miles inclined 51.6 degrees with respect to the Equator. Seven of its days in orbit were docked at the International Space Station. While at the orbital outpost, the STS 98 crew delivered and activated the US Destiny Laboratory, and completed three space walks.
Addition of the Destiny Lab brought the space station's mass to about 101.6 metric tons (112 tons), surpassing that of the Russian Mir space station for the first time.
Mission Specialists Tom Jones and Robert Curbeam conducted three space walks that totalled nearly 20 hours. During the first space walk, they assisted shuttle robot arm operator Marsha Ivins in moving Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 and installing Destiny onto the station. During the second space walk, they focused on moving Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 from a temporary position to its new home at the forward end of Destiny. Jones and Curbeam spent most of their third space walk connecting cables and equipment outside Destiny, then performed some procedural tests to determine the best ways to help a disabled space walk partner.
STS 98 ended 20 February 2001 when Atlantis glided to a belated but textbook touchdown on runway 2-2 at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
The flight crew for STS 98 was: Kenneth Cockrell, Commander; Mark Polansky, Pilot; Robert Curbeam, Mission Specialist; Thomas Jones, Mission Specialist; and Marsha Ivins, Mission Specialist.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-98.html
2008
Died, Guy Ilich Severin, Russia, Chief Designer and General Designer from 1961 of OKB Zvezda, specialized in spacesuits and EVA airlocks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Severin
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