A pair of NASA astronauts, who were stranded in space for more
than nine months, returned to Earth on Tuesday, landing in the
Gulf of America off Tallahassee, Florida, bringing an end to an unforeseen odyssey.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.
Pioneer 10, the world’s first outer-planetary probe, was launched
from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to Jupiter, the solar
system’s largest planet.
In December 1973, after successfully negotiating the asteroid belt
and a distance of 620 million miles, Pioneer 10 reached Jupiter
and sent back to Earth the first close-up images of the spectacular
gas giant.
In June 1983, the NASA spacecraft left the solar system and the
next day radioed back the first scientific data on interstellar space.
NASA officially ended the Pioneer 10 project on March 31, 1997,
with the spacecraft having traveled a distance of some six billion
miles.
Apollo 14, piloted by astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Edgar D.
Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa,was successfully launched from
Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a manned mission to the moon.
On February 5, after suffering some initial problems in docking
the lunar and command modules, Shepard and Mitchell were
able to descend to the lunar surface on the third U.S. moon
landing.
Upon stepping out of the lunar module, Shepard, who in 1961,
aboard Freedom 7, was the first American in space, became
the fifth astronaut to walk on the moon.
Shepard and Mitchell remained on the lunar surface for nearly
34 hours, conducting simple scientific experiments, such as
hitting golf balls into space with Shepard’s golf club, and
collecting 96 pounds of lunar samples. On February 9, Apollo
14 safely returned to Earth.
The crew of Apollo 14 in their spacesuits: Edgar D. Mitchel,
Alan B. Shepard and Stuart A. Roosa.
SANDY KOZEL
Before and after shuttle explosion (first visible signs of
danger on left, just after explosion on right).
At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle
Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and
Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first
ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space.
McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher
from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her
a place among the seven-member crew of the Challenger.
She underwent months of shuttle training but then, beginning
January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the Challenger‘s
launch countdown was repeatedly delayed because of weather
and technical problems. Finally, on January 28, the shuttle lifted
off.
Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground,
including Christa’s family, stared in disbelief as the
shuttle broke up in a forking plume of smoke and fire.
Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold on live
television. There were no survivors.
The Final Crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
President Ronald Reagan addressing the nation from the
White House on the day of the space shuttle Challenger explosion.
The Apollo 1 crew, from left, Edward H. White II, Virgil I.
"Gus" Grissom, and Roger B. Chaffee.
A launch pad fire during Apollo program tests at Cape Canaveral,
Florida, killed all three astronauts of Apollo 1 on this day in 1967.
An investigation indicated that a faulty electrical wire inside the
Apollo 1 command module was the probable cause of the fire.
The astronauts, the first Americans to die in a spacecraft, had been participating in a simulation of the Apollo 1 launch scheduled for
the following month.
The entrance to the tribute to the three astronauts who died
in the fire.
The three-part hatch that was in place on the Apollo 1
spacecraft is shown in the tribute.This is the first time
any part of the Apollo 1 spacecraft has been displayed
publicly.
