Space History for March 14

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1692
Born, Pieter van Musschenbroek, Dutch physician, physicist (Leyden jar, buckling of compressed struts, described machines for tension, compression, and flexure testing)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1835
Born, Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (Martian canali, Italian for "channels" (not "canals"), associated the Perseid and Leonid meteor showers with comets)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1879
Born, Albert Einstein, German/American theoretical physicist (Relativity, Nobel 1921 "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect")
ref: www.nobelprize.org

1885
R. Luther discovered asteroid #247 Eukrate.

1904
M. Wolf discovered asteroids #524 Fidelio and #526 Jena.

1906
A. Kopff discovered asteroid #591 Irmgard.

1913
G. Neujmin discovered asteroid #748 Simeisa.

1928
Born, Frank Borman (at Gary, Indiana, USA), Colonel USAF, NASA astronaut (Gemini 7, Apollo 8; over 19d 21.5h total time in spaceflight), former Eastern Airlines president

Astronaut Frank Borman, NASA photo (1964)
Source: Wikipedia (www.jsc.nasa.gov unavailable March 2019)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1931
M. Wolf discovered asteroid #2650.

1931 16:45:00 CET (GMT +1:00:00)
The first successful launch of a liquid fuel rocket in Europe was made by Johannes Winkler in Dessau, Germany.
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1932
Died, George Eastman, inventor (Kodak)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1934
Born, Eugene Cernan (at Chicago, Illinois, USA), USN Captain, NASA astronaut (Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, Apollo 17; 23d 14.25h total time in spaceflight), the last human to leave his footprints on the Moon to date (2021) (deceased)

Astronaut Gene Cernan, NASA photo 10 September 1964
Source: NASA Image and Video Library

Eugene Andrew "Gene" Cernan (14 March 1934 - 16 January 2017) was the second American astronaut to walk in space walk, and the Last Man on the Moon for over 45 years.

Cernan was selected in 1963 as one of 14 in the third group of astronaut candidates. He became the second NASA astronaut to conduct a space walk during the Gemini 9 mission in June 1966, spending two hours and 10 minutes outside the cramped spacecraft. He then flew on the Apollo 10 mission to the Moon in May 1969, approaching to within 47,000 feet during the last test flight before the Apollo 11 landing two months later, in July. On his third and final space mission, Apollo 17, Cernan and geologist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt spent three days exploring the Moon's surface, on foot and in a rover.

Apollo 17 lifted off at 12:33 a.m. EST on 7 December 1972, the only night launch of the giant Saturn V rocket ever conducted. On their way to the Moon, the crew snapped the iconic picture of the full Earth later dubbed "the Blue Marble," which is probably the most widely distributed photograph in history, showing the blue-and-white planet floating serenely in the dark of space.

Leaving Command Module pilot John Young in orbit, Cernan and Schmitt touched down in the hilly Taurus-Littrow valley on 11 December 1972. They conducted three moonwalks, setting up experiments, collecting rock and soil samples, and photographing the barren landscape. Before following Schmitt up the ladder to the crew compartment at the end of the last excursion on 14 December, Cernan paused to read the plaque attached to the descent stage:

"Here man completed his first explorations of the Moon, December 1972 A.D. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind."

Cernan then continued: "This is our commemoration that will be here until someone like us, until some of you who are out there, who are the promise of the future, come back to read it again and to further the exploration and meaning of Apollo."

He later continued the message on his Web site: "Too many years have passed for me to still be the last man to have left his footprints on the Moon. I believe with all my heart that somewhere out there is a young boy or girl with indomitable will and courage who will lift that dubious distinction from my shoulders and take us back where we belong. Let us give that dream a chance."

After retiring from the Navy and NASA in 1976, Cernan went into business, and served as a TV commentator for early Shuttle flights. Politically conservative, he wrote a critically acclaimed book about his final Moon mission, appropriately titled The Last Man on the Moon, and starred in an award-winning documentary of the same name. He remained an eloquent and passionate advocate of space exploration long after he retired from NASA, testifying before Congress on many occasions, and frequently cited as an authority in print.

At the time of his death, Cernan was survived by six of the twelve men who had walked on the Moon during the six Apollo landing missions in 1969 through 1972.

The book, on Amazon: The documentary, on Amazon:

1939
Born, William B. Lenoir (at Miami, Florida, USA), NASA astronaut (STS 5; nearly 5d 2.25h in spaceflight) (deceased)

Astronaut Bill Lenoir, NASA photo (17 September 1979)
Source: Wikipedia (www.jsc.nasa.gov unavailable March 2019)
ref: www.nasa.gov

1950
Goethe Link Observatory discovered asteroid #1602 Indiana.

1963
Born, Pedro Duque (at Madrid, Spain), ESA astronaut (STS 95, ISS 8; over 18d 18.75h total time in spaceflight)

ESA astronaut Pedro Duque
Source: Wikipedia
ref: www.esa.int

1973
Died, Howard Aiken, computing pioneer

Howard Hathaway Aiken (9 March 1900 - 14 March 1973) is considered one of the pioneers of the computer field, having been the primary engineer behind IBM's Harvard Mark I computer.

Aiken is also well known for his 1947 comment, "Only six electronic digital computers would be required to satisfy the computing needs of the entire United States."
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1980
E. Bowell discovered asteroids #2270 Yazhi and #2822 Sacajawea.

1995
Died, William A Fowler, US nuclear/astro physicist (Nobel 1983 "for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe")
ref: www.nobelprize.org

1995 06:11:34 GMT
Astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American astronaut to ride to space aboard a Russian launch vehicle, on his way to the Mir space station, when he was launched with V. Dezyurov and G. Strekalov in Soyuz TM-21.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

1995 06:20:00 GMT
There were 13 people simultaneously in space for the first time, three aboard Soyuz-TM 21, three aboard Mir and seven aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS 67).
ref: en.wikipedia.org

2009
The US House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution recognizing March 14 (3/14) as Pi Day.
ref: en.wikipedia.org

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