Space History for September 22

Space History for September 22

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1791
Born, Michael Faraday, British physicist, chemist (electromagnetic theory)

Michael Faraday (22 September 1791 - 25 August 1867) was a British scientist (physicist and chemist) who made significant contributions in the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His experiments also established the relationship between electricity, magnetism and light. Among his inventions are the homopolar motor, dynamo (a predecessor of modern generators), and the first form of the Bunsen burner.
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1859
R. Luther discovered asteroid #57 Mnemosyne.

1862
C. H. F. Peters discovered asteroid #75 Eurydike.

1878
C. H. F. Peters discovered asteroid #190 Ismene.

1884
J. Palisa discovered asteroid #242 Kriemhild.

1892
A. Charlois discovered asteroid #337 Devosa.

1903
P. Gotz discovered asteroid #1418 Fayeta; R. S. Dugan discovered asteroid #517 Edith.

1905
Born, Eugen Sanger, Austrian aerospace engineer

Eugen Sanger (22 September 1905 - 10 February 1964) was an Austrian aerospace engineer best known for his contributions to lifting body and ramjet technology. Although many of his advanced ideas have not been constructed to date, his work on lifting body designs ultimately proved important to the X-15, X-20 Dyna-Soar, and Space Shuttle programs in the US.
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1905
P. Gotz discovered asteroid #576 Emanuela.

1917
M. Wolf discovered asteroid #884 Priamus.

1919
Born, Mikhail Vasilyevich Melnikov, Russian engineer, Deputy Chief Designer at Korolev design bureau (1960-1974), specialized in engines, such as the Blok D used in Lunar programs
ref: www.astronautix.com

1919
K. Reinmuth discovered asteroids #2623 and #2637 Bobrovnikoff.

1928
K. Reinmuth discovered asteroids #1100 Arnica, #1101 Clematis, #1913 Sekanina and #3415 Danby.

1938
Y. Vaisala discovered asteroids #1496 Turku and #1497 Tampere.

1947
The first automatic-pilot flight over the Atlantic Ocean was made when a Douglas C-54 Skymaster flew "No Hand on Controls From Newfoundland to Oxfordshire--Take-Off, Flight and Landing Are Fully Automatic" as reported by the New York Times 23 September.
ref: www.rarenewspapers.com

1949
J. Dobrzycki and A. Kwiek discovered asteroid #1572 Posnania.

1958
Born, Vasili Yuriyevich Lukiyanyuk (at Moscow, Russian SFSR), cosmonaut candidate (IMBP Group 5 - 1989) (inactive), Chief of IMBP cosmonaut team; participant in several long duration experiments (e.g. SFINCSS-99)
ref: www.spacefacts.de

1963
Goethe Link Observatory discovered asteroids #1955 McMath and #2007 McCuskey.

1965
Purple Mountain Observatory discovered asteroid #2719.

1965 18:58:00 GMT
NASA and the USAF launched X-15A-2 Infrared Scanner test mission # 149 in which Robert Rushworth attained a maximum speed of 3550 mph (5713 kph, Mach 5.18), and reached a maximum altitude of 100,300 ft (30.571 km, 18.996 mi).
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1966 23:18:00 EDT (GMT -4:00:00)
NASA's Surveyor 2 impacted the Lunar surface (predicted time) after a midcourse correction maneuver failure left the spacecraft tumbling out of control.

Surveyor 2, launched 20 September 1966, was the second of a series designed to achieve a soft landing on the Moon and return Lunar surface photography for determining characteristics of the Lunar terrain for the Apollo Lunar landing missions. It was also equipped to return data on radar reflectivity of the Lunar surface, bearing strength of the Lunar surface, and spacecraft temperatures for use in the analysis of Lunar surface temperatures. The target area for the mission was within Sinus Medii. The Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle placed the spacecraft on a nearly perfect Lunar intercept trajectory that would have missed the aim point by about 130 kilometers. Following injection, the spacecraft successfully accomplished all required sequences up to the midcourse thrust phase. During the midcourse maneuver, one of the three vernier engines failed to ignite, resulting in an unbalanced thrust that caused the spacecraft to tumble. Attempts to salvage the mission failed. Contact with the spacecraft was lost at 5:35 AM EDT on 22 September, and Lunar surface impact was predicted at 11:18 PM EDT the same day.

1969 02:10:00 GMT
Japan launched the Ohsumi 4 technology satellite from the Uchinoura Space Center on a Lambda 4 booster, but the satellite did not reach orbit because of a fourth stage control system malfunction after the third stage collided with the fourth stage.
ref: space.skyrocket.de

1969 21:07:00 GMT
The USAF launched the KH-4A 1052 photo surveillance satellite from Vandenberg AFB aboard a Thor Agena D rocket. It was the last of the KH-4A missions. All camera systems operated satisfactorily.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

1971
A global Martian dust storm began which affected the USSR Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions and the NASA Mariner 9 mission.

Earth-based observations of Mars determined that a global Martian dust storm had started on 22 September 1971. When NASA's Mariner 9 arrived at Mars and entered orbit on 14 November, it found no surface details were visible. NASA reprogrammed the probe to wait until the storm was over before continuing its studies. The Soviet Mars 2 probe arrived on 27 November 1971, releasing its lander as per its hard-coded instructions. Possibly because of infiltration by atmospheric dust, the parachute system failed to deploy, and the lander crashed on Mars at an unknown location. No contact with the lander has been made.

See also www.msss.com
ref: adsabs.harvard.edu
ref: blogs.scientificamerican.com

1973
N. Chernykh discovered asteroids #2726 Kotelnikov, #2727 Paton, #2728 Yatskiv, #2746 Hissao, #2952 Lilliputia, #3191, #3242 Bakhchisaraj, #3261, #3323, #3399 and #3601.

1973 11:18:00 GMT
During the 2h 41m Skylab 3-3 EVA, Skylab astronauts Bean and Garriot replaced the film cartridges for the solar camera.
ref: en.wikipedia.org

1977 00:51:00 GMT
USSR launched Prognoz 6 from Baikonur to investigate solar radiation and plasma fluxes and magnetic fields in circumterrestrial space, in order to determine the effects of solar activity on the interplanetary medium and the magnetosphere of the Earth.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

1981
Z. Vavrova discovered asteroid #3149 Okudjeva.

1982
E. Bowell discovered asteroids #2816 Pien and #3077 Henderson.

1983 22:16:00 GMT
The Galaxy 2 communications satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 74 deg W.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

1985
T. Schildknecht discovered asteroid #3366.

1993 03:56:11 EDT (GMT -4:00:00)
NASA's STS 51 (Discovery 17, 57th Shuttle mission) ended after carrying ACTS/TOS and the ORFEUS-SPAS experiment platform to space.

The first launch attempt of STS 51 on 17 July 1993 was scrubbed during the T-20 minute hold due to premature and unexplained charging of pyrotechnic initiator controllers (PICs), located on the mobile launcher platform (MLP), for the T-0 liquid hydrogen vent arm umbilical and solid rocket booster hold-down bolts. The problem was traced to a faulty circuit card in the PIC rack on the MLP.

An abbreviated countdown began 23 July 1993. The second liftoff attempt on 24 July was halted at T-19 seconds due to a problem with the auxiliary power unit (APU) turbine assembly for one of the two hydraulic power units (HPUs) on the right solid rocket booster. The APU was removed and replaced at the pad.

The launch was rescheduled for 4 August, then changed to 12 August due to concerns regarding the Perseid meteor shower, which was expected to peak 11 August. The liftoff attempt on 12 August was halted at the T-3 second mark due to faulty sensor monitoring fuel flow on main engine number two. It was the fourth pad abort in the Shuttle program history - the second in 1993 - which led to changeout of all three main engines at the pad.

The launch of STS 51 was rescheduled to 10 September 1993, then slipped to 12 September to allow time to a complete review of the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite design, production and testing history following the loss of contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft and the NOAA-13 satellite.

The countdown finally proceeded smoothly to an on-time liftoff on 12 September 1993.

One of the two primary payloads for STS 51, the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), was deployed on flight day one. About 45 minutes after ACTS was deployed, the attached Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS) booster, flying on the Shuttle for first time, was fired to propel the pioneering communications technology spacecraft to geosynchronous transfer orbit.

On flight day two, the crew deployed the second primary payload, the Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrograph-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (OERFEUS-SPAS), the first in series of ASTRO-SPAS astronomical missions. Extensive footage of the orbiter was recorded by an IMAX camera mounted on SPAS. The joint German-US astrophysics payload was controlled via the SPAS Payload Operations Control Center (SPOC) at KSC, becoming the first Shuttle payload to be managed from Florida. After six days of data collection, ORFEUS-SPAS was retrieved with the remote manipulator system arm, and returned to the cargo bay.

On 16 September, Mission Specialists Newman and Walz performed an extravehicular activity (EVA) lasting seven hours, five minutes and 28 seconds. It was the final one in a series of generic space walks begun earlier in the year. The astronauts also evaluated tools, tethers and a foot restraint platform intended for the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

The other cargo bay payload was the Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Material Exposure (LDCE) experiment.

Middeck payloads on STS 51 were: IMAX 70 mm camera; Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) Block II; Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space (CHROMEX-04); High Resolution Shuttle Glow Spectroscopy (HRSGS-A); Aurora Photography Experiment (APE-B); Investigation into Polymer Membranes Processing (IPMP); and Radiation Monitoring Equipment III (RME III). An Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) calibration test was also performed.

STS 51 ended 22 September 1993 when Discovery landed on revolution 157 on Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Rollout distance: 8,271 feet (2,521 meters). Rollout time: 50 seconds. Landing weight: 206,438 pounds. Orbit altitude: 160 nautical miles. Orbit inclination: 28.45 degrees. Mission duration: nine days, 20 hours, 11 minutes, 11 seconds. Miles traveled: 4.1 million. The landing opportunity 21 September was waved off due to the possibility of rain showers within 30 miles (48 kilometers) of the Shuttle Landing Facility. This was the first end-of-mission night landing at KSC for the Shuttle program.

The flight crew for STS 51 was: Frank L. Culbertson Jr., Commander; William F. Readdy, Pilot; James H. Newman PhD, Mission Specialist 1; Daniel W. Bursch, Mission Specialist 2; Carl E. Walz, Mission Specialist 3.
ref: www.nasa.gov

1999 14:33:00 GMT
A Soyuz booster launched from Baikonur carried four Globalstar communications satellites (Globalstar 33, 50, 55 and 58) into orbit. After placing them in their operational orbit, the Ikar upper stage made a deorbit burn and re-entered on 24 September.
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

2001 22:29:33 GMT
NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft passed the nucleus of comet Borrelly at a distance of 2171 km (1349 mi).

Highest Resolution Comet Picture Ever Reveals Rugged Terrain
NASA Deep Space 1 photo of Comet Borrelly
Source: photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov

NASA's Deep Space 1 (DS1), launched 24 October 1998, was the first of a series of technology demonstration probes being developed by NASA's New Millennium Program. The spacecraft flew by the Mars-crossing near-Earth asteroid 9969 Braille (formerly known as 1992 KD) in July, 1999 and flew by comet Borrelly on 22 September 2001. As part of the technology demonstrations, the probe carried the Miniature Integrated Camera-Spectrometer (MICAS), an instrument combining two visible imaging channels with UV and IR spectrometers. MICAS was used to study the chemical composition, geomorphology, size, spin-state, and atmosphere of the target objects. It also carried the Plasma Experiment for Planetary Exploration (PEPE), an ion and electron spectrometer which measured the solar wind during cruise, the interaction of the solar wind with target bodies during encounters, and the composition of the cometary coma.

DS1 flew by the near-Earth asteroid 9969 Braille at 04:46 UT (12:46 a.m. EDT) on 29 July 1999 at a distance of about 26 km and at approximately 15.5 km/sec relative velocity. The spacecraft made its final pre-encounter transmission about 7 hours before closest approach, after which it turned its high-gain antenna away from Earth to point the MICAS camera/spectrometer camera towards the asteroid. The spacecraft had a target-tracking problem and the MICAS instrument was not pointed towards the asteroid as it approached, so no images or spectra were obtained. MICAS turned off about 25 seconds before closest approach at a distance of about 350 km and measurements were taken with the PEPE plasma instrument. The spacecraft then turned after the encounter to obtain images and spectra of the opposite side of the asteroid as it receded from view, but due to the target-tracking problem only two black and white images and a dozen spectra were obtained. The images were taken at 915 and 932 seconds after closest approach from 14,000 km and the spectra were taken about 3 minutes later. The data were transmitted back to Earth over the next few days. The diameter of Braille is estimated at 2.2 km at its longest and 1 km at its shortest. The spectra showed it to be similar to the asteroid Vesta.

The original plan was to fly by the dormant comet Wilson-Harrington in January 2001 and comet Borrelly in September 2001. The star tracker failed on 11 November 1999 and a new extended mission to fly by comet Borrelly (using techniques developed to operate the spacecraft without the star tracker) was planned. On 22 September 2001, Deep Space 1 entered the coma of comet Borrelly and made its closest approach (2171 km) to the nucleus at 22:29:33 UT (6:29:33 p.m. EDT) at a relative velocity of 16.58 km/second. At the time of the flyby the spacecraft and comet were 1.36 AU from the Sun. The PEPE instrument was turned on throughout the encounter. MICAS started making measurements and imaging 80 minutes before encounter and operated until a few minutes before encounter as planned. Both instruments successfully returned data and images from the encounter.

The ion engines on DS1 were commanded off on 18 December 2001 at about 20:00 UT (3:00 p.m. EST) to end the mission. The radio receiver was left on in case future contact with the spacecraft is desired. All new technologies on board DS1 were successfully tested during the primary mission.
ref: web.archive.org
ref: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

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