Space History for May 1

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1592
Born, Johann A. Schall von Bell, German missionary, astronomer (contributions to the Chinese calendar)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1682
Louis XIV and his court inaugurated the Paris Observatory, construction of which had begun in 1667. As of 2022, it is the oldest astronomical observatory still in use.
ref: sites.google.com

1860 12:45:00 EST (GMT -5:00:00)
A chondrite-type meteorite exploded over Muskingum County, Ohio, near the town of New Concord, spreading fallen stones over several miles. Some sixty years later, reports started circulating a colt had been killed in the event.
ref: www.meteorite-times.com

1884
Construction began on the first "skyscraper," the ten story Home Insurance Building on the corner of LaSalle and Adams in Chicago, Illinois, generally acknowledged as the first steel-frame high-rise building.

The first skyscraper was built in Chicago, Illinois, starting on 1 May 1884, and completed in 1885. The ten story Home Insurance Company building, designed by William Le Baron Jenney, had a steel frame (steel-girder construction) to carry the weight of the building. Its walls provided no support, but hung like curtains on the metal frame, a revolutionary construction method of American architecture which allowed architects to design and construct ever taller buildings. The term "skyscraper," which came into use shortly after it was built, originally applied to buildings between ten and twenty stories tall. By the late twentieth century, as such buildings became more common, the term was generally used only to describe high rise buildings of unusual height, and most often greater than 40-50 stories tall.

The first skyscraper was demolished in 1931, replaced by a 43 story tower framed by four 22 story wings, the LaSalle National Bank Building. The newer edifice was the last major skyscraper built in Chicago before the Great Depression and World War II.
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1903
Born, Georgi Maksimovich Shubnikov, Chief of Construction Directorate of Baikonur (1955-1965)
ref: www.astronautix.com

1925
Born, M. Scott Carpenter (at Boulder, Colorado, USA), Commander USN, NASA astronaut (Mercury 7 "Aurora 7"; 4h 56m in spaceflight) (deceased)

Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter, NASA photo (22 October 1964)
Source: Wikipedia (www.jsc.nasa.gov unavailable from April 2019)
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1949
Neptune's moon Nereid (Neptune's second known moon) was discovered by Gerard Kuiper.
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1952
Goethe Link Observatory discovered asteroid #3428.

1957 01:29:00 GMT
The Vanguard TV-1 booster test was launched and reached a 195 km (121 mile) altitude while traveling down range 726 km (451 miles).

Launch of Vanguard TV1, NASA photo
Source: NASA Publication "VANGUARD - A HISTORY"
ref: history.nasa.gov

1979
In the first test STS stack move, NASA's shuttle Enterprise (OV-101), external tank and solid rocket boosters were transported on the mobile launcher platform from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center.
ref: www.nasa.gov

2001 11:11:00 CDT (GMT -5:00:00)
NASA's STS 100 (Endeavor) mission ended after delivering the Canadian robotic arm to the International Space Station.

STS 100 was launched 19 April 2001. Endeavour and its crew remained on orbit almost 12 days, eight of which were spent in joint operations with the International Space Station crew. Endeavour's crew delivered and installed a new robotic arm and helped to transfer equipment and supplies between vehicles.

Mission Specialists Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency and Scott Parazynski of NASA performed two space walks to install the new 17.6 meter (57.7 foot) robotic arm onto the International Space Station. Canadarm2, a beefier second-generation version of the shuttle's robot arm, is essential to the continued assembly of the space station as the outpost grows beyond the reach of the shuttle's arm.

STS 100 was the first of three space shuttle missions to carry pieces of the Space Station Mobile Servicer System, or SSMSS to the station. It delivered the long, hinged arm known as the Remote Manipulator System. Subsequent missions delivered the Mobile Base System, a work platform that moves along rails covering the length of the space station, and the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, or Canada Hand.

The International Space Station's three Command and Control Computers began to exhibit problems during Endeavour's visit. Communications between the station and the ground were rerouted through Endeavour as flight controllers worked to solve the problem, and mission managers approved an extended stay for the shuttle if the computers were not recovered quickly.

After flight controllers determined that the hard drive on one Command and Control Computer had failed, space station Flight Engineer Susan Helms swapped it with another onboard computer. After reloading the software, all three computers booted up normally. Endeavour brought the failed computer back to Earth for more testing.

STS 100 ended 1 May 2001 when Endeavour landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, after being waved off from landings at Kennedy Space Center because of the inclement weather in Florida.

The flight crew for STS 100 was: Kent V. Rominger, Commander; Jeffrey S. Ashby, Pilot; Chris A. Hadfield, Mission Specialist 1; John L. Phillips, Mission Specialist 2; Scott E. Parazynski, Mission Specialist 3; Umberto Guidoni, Mission Specialist 4; Yuri V. Lonchakov, Mission Specialist 5.
ref: www.nasa.gov

2006
Died, Bruce A. Peterson, NASA test pilot 1960-1967, inspiration for TV's The Six Million Dollar Man
ref: www.nasa.gov

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