Space History for January 17

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1706
Born, Benjamin Franklin, American writer, inventor, publisher, and ambassador

Dr. Benjamin Franklin (17 January 1706 - 17 April 1790) was an American journalist, publisher, author, philanthropist, abolitionist, public servant, scientist, librarian, diplomat, and inventor. One of the leaders of the American Revolution, he also was well known for his many quotations and his experiments with electricity. Franklin was a member of the Freemasons, corresponded with members of the Lunar Society and was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

1786
Pierre Mechain discovered Comet 2P Encke, which has the shortest period (3.3 years) of any "reasonably bright" comet.
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1857
Born, Eugene Augustin Lauste, developer (first sound-on-film recording)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1893
A. Charlois discovered asteroid #354 Eleonora.

1901
M. Wolf and L. Carnera discovered asteroid #466 Tisiphone.

1924
B. Jekhovsky discovered asteroid #1013 Tombecka.

1928
Anatol M. Josepho, of New York, NY, received a patent for the first fully automatic photographic film developing machine. Early space probes captured images on film, processed by similar systems, which were then scanned to send the pictures to Earth.
ref: patents.google.com

1943
Born, Daniel Charles Brandenstein (at Watertown, Wisconsin, USA), Captain USN, NASA astronaut (STS 8, STS 51G, STS 32, STS 49; over 32d 21h total time in spaceflight)

Astronaut Daniel C. Brandenstein, NASA photo (22 August 1984)
Source: Wikipedia
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1962 20:00:00 GMT
Neil Armstrong, a NASA civilian pilot, flew X-15 mission # 48 to an altitude of 133,500 ft (40.691 km, 25.284 mi) with a maximum speed of 3765 mph (6059 kph, Mach 5.51).
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1963
Joe Walker flew VO Alt, IR expt Test/Technology X-15 mission # 77, the first civilian flight above 80 km, to 271,700 ft (82.814 km, 51.458 mi) altitude and 3677 mph (5918 kph, Mach 5.47) speed, earning the second set of USAF definition astronaut wings.
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1969 06:50:47 GMT
USSR Soyuz 4 landed with a crew of three after launching with one aboard and docking with Soyuz 5 in orbit .

Soyuz 4 was launched 14 January 1969, the first manned spacecraft launched by the USSR during the winter. On board was cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov on his first flight. The aim of the mission was to dock with Soyuz 5, transfer two crew members from that spacecraft and reenter. The two spacecraft docked on 16 January, the first time two manned spacecraft had docked. Khrunov and Yeliseyev immediately began preparing for their EVA aboard Soyuz 5. Volynov, who would remain on Soyuz 5, filmed them donning their Yastreb space suits. On their 35th revolution of Earth aboard Soyuz 5, they exited the spacecraft, on the second ever Soviet spacewalk. One of Khrunov's lines became tangled and he accidentally closed the tumbler of his suit ventilator. Although he freed the line, the incident distracted Yeliseyev who did not set up the movie camera on the orbital module before exiting the spacecraft. Consequently, there is no film of the historic EVA, only a poor video transmission. The spacewalkers delivered newspapers, letters, and telegrams printed after Shatalov lifted off to help prove that the transfer took place since they returned to Earth a day earlier than Soyuz 5. Soyuz 4 and 5 separated after being docked 4 hours 35 minutes. Soyuz 4 reentered on 17 January 1969 and landed 100 km southwest of Karaganda, now in Kazakhstan.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

1976 23:28:00 GMT
The Hermes communications test satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on a Delta rocket, a joint effort of the Canadian Communications Research Centre, NASA and the European Space Agency.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

1997
Died, Clyde Tombaugh, astronomer (discovered Pluto, 1930)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

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