Space History for February 20

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1844
Born, Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann, physicist (statistical mechanics)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1876
C. H. F. Peters discovered asteroid #160 Una.

1890
R. Luther discovered asteroid #288 Glauke.

1901
L. Carnera discovered asteroid #469 Argentina.

1921
Born, Joseph A. Walker, X-15 pilot (deceased)

Joe Walker beside an X-15 following a 169,000-foot altitude flight
NASA photo, 30 March 1961

Joseph A. Walker (20 February 1921 - 8 June 1966) was a Chief Research Pilot at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center during the mid-1960s. Walker made the first NASA X-15 flight on 25 March 1960. He flew the research aircraft 24 times and achieved its fastest speed and highest altitude. He attained a speed of 4,104 mph (Mach 5.92) during a flight on 27 June 1962, and reached an altitude of 354,300 feet on 22 August 1963 (his last X-15 flight). He was the first man to pilot the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) that was used to develop piloting and operational techniques for Lunar landings. Walker was killed in a collision of his F-104 chase plane with the XB-70 bomber during testing. The accident led to the discovery of wingtip vortices, which were responsible for the collision.
ref: www.nasa.gov

1926
Born, Kenneth H. Olsen, US engineer, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1928
Died, Antonio Abetti, Italian astronomer (positional astronomy, observations of minor planets, comets, star occultations)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1928
O. Oikawa discovered asteroid #1090 Sumida.

1934
O. Bancilhon discovered asteroid #1333 Cevenola.

1938
K. Reinmuth discovered asteroids #1482 Sebastiana and #3569; and Y. Vaisala discovered asteroids #1449 Virtanen, #1450 Raimonda and #2898.

1943
Born, Aleksandr P. Aleksandrov (at Moscow, Russian SFSR), Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz T-9, Mir 2; over 309d 18h total time in spaceflight)

Cosmonaut Aleksandr P. Aleksandrov, photo by Dmitry Rozhkov (19 June 2012)
Source: Wikipedia
ref: www.spacefacts.de

1954
Born, Vasili V. Tsibliyev (at Orekhovka, Krim Oblast, Ukrainian SSR), Lt General Russian Air Force, Russian cosmonaut (Mir 14, Mir 23; nearly 381d 16h total time in spaceflight)

Cosmonaut Vasili V. Tsibliyev, NASA photo (23 August 2001)
Source: Wikipedia (spaceflight.nasa.gov killed 25 Feb 2021)
ref: www.spacefacts.de

1962 14:47:39 GMT
NASA launched Mercury Atlas 6 "Friendship 7" with astronaut John Glenn aboard, the first American to orbit the Earth.

John Glenn in the USA's first manned orbital flight, MA-6, Friendship 7, NASA photo
Source: NSSDCA Master Catalog

John Glenn piloted the first American manned orbital mission on 20 February 1962. He flew NASA's Friendship 7, a Mercury-Atlas 6 spacecraft, to about 162 miles in altitude, going at a maximum orbital velocity of about 17,500 miles per hour. This mission orbited the Earth 3 times and lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds, from launch to impact in the Atlantic Ocean. Its basic objectives were evaluation of the effects on, and performance of, an astronaut in space. A control system malfunction in the spacecraft required manual retrofire and reentry for Glenn's return to Earth.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

1965 09:57:36 GMT
NASA's Ranger 8 impacted the surface of the Moon after it returned 7,137 pictures.

Final Ranger 8 pictures taken 1/2 second before impact
Source: NSSDC Image Catalog

Ranger 8, launched 17 February 1965, was designed to achieve a Lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the Lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras, 2 wide angle (channel F, cameras A and B) and 4 narrow angle (channel P) to accomplish these objectives. The cameras were arranged in two separate chains, or channels, each self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters so as to afford the greatest reliability and probability of obtaining high-quality video pictures. No other experiments were carried on the spacecraft. Impact occurred on 20 February 1965 at 9:57:36.256 UT after 7,137 Lunar pictures had been returned.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

1982
E. Bowell discovered asteroids #2636 Lassell and #3193 Elliot.

1983 05:10:00 GMT
Japan launched the Tenma satellite from the Uchinoura Space Center into a 489x503 km orbit to study x-rays.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

1984
V. M. Candy and M. P. Candy discovered asteroid #3731 Hancock.

1985
A. Mrkos discovered asteroid #3701.

1999 04:18:01 GMT
Russia launched Soyuz TM-29 to Mir with members of the last crew to stay aboard the space station.

Soyuz TM-29 was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome 20 February 1999 aboard a Soyuz 11A511U rocket. It docked with Mir at 22 February 05:36 GMT with cosmonauts Afanasyev, Haignere, and Bella aboard. Since two crew seats had been sold (to Slovakia and France), Afanasyev was the only Russian cosmonaut aboard, which meant that Russian engineer Avdeyev (already aboard Mir) would have to accept a double-length assignment. After the 27 February departure of EO-26 crew commander Padalka and Slovak cosmonaut Bella aboard Soyuz TM-28, the new EO-27 Mir crew consisted of Afanasyev as Commander, Avdeyev as Engineer and French cosmonaut Haignere.

Following an extended mission and three space walks, the last operational crew aboard Mir prepared to return. The station was powered down and prepared for free drift mode. The hatch between Mir and Soyuz was closed at 18:12 GMT 27 August 1999. Soyuz TM-29 undocked from Mir at 21:17 GMT with Afanasyev, Avdeyev and Haignere aboard. The Mir EO-27 crew landed in Kazakhstan at 00:35 GMT on August 28. Afanasyev had set a new cumulative time in space record, but for the first time since September 1989 there were no humans in space.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

2001 14:33:00 CST (GMT -6:00:00)
NASA STS 98 (Atlantis, 102nd Shuttle mission) landed at Edwards AFB, California, after delivering the Destiny Lab module to the International Space Station.

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.
ref: www.nasa.gov

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