Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission,was launched with
astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Jr.; Donn F. Eisele; and Walter
Cunningham aboard.
Under the command of Schirra, the crew of Apollo 7 conducted
an 11-day orbit of Earth, during which the crew transmitted the
first live television broadcasts from orbit.
The U.S. Congress passed legislation establishing the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America’s
activities in space, on July 29, 1958. The agency opened
for business on Oct. 1, 1958.
NASA has since sponsored space expeditions, both human
and mechanical, that have yielded vital information about
the solar system and universe.
It has also launched numerous earth-orbiting satellites
that have been instrumental in everything from weather
forecasting to navigation to global communications.
President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics
and Space Act of 1958 into law on July 29, creating
NASA.
TIM MAGUIRE
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán is 78 years old today.
In 2023, Rolling Stone named him the 11th greatest guitarist
of all time. He has won 10 Grammy Awards and three Latin
Grammy Awards, and was inducted along with his namesake
band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Skylab, America’s first space station, was successfully launched
into an orbit around the earth. Eleven days later, U.S. astronauts
Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul Weitz made the planned
rendezvous with Skylab, repairing a jammed solar panel and
conducting scientific experiments during their 28-day stay
aboard the space station.
From left, Joseph P. Kerwin, science pilot; Paul J. Weitz,
pilot; and Charles Conrad Jr., commander.
From Cape Canaveral, Florida, Apollo 16, the fifth of six U.S.
lunar landing missions, was successfully launched on its
238,000-mile journey to the moon.
On April 20, astronauts John W. Young and Charles M. Duke
descended to the lunar surface from the Command Module,
which remained in orbit around the moon with astronaut,
Thomas K. Mattingly, remaining on board..
Young and Duke remained on the moon for nearly three days,
and spent more than 20 hours exploring the surface of Earth’s
only natural satellite.
The two astronauts used the Lunar Rover vehicle to collect
more than 200 pounds of rock before returning to the Command
Module on April 23.
Four days later, the three astronauts returned to Earth, safely
splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
