Intelsat 1 F-1, known popularly as Early Bird (above), was the first
communications satellite developed and launched for commercial
use. It was launched on a Delta D rocket from Cape Canaveral,
Florida and positioned in geostationary orbit over the Atlantic. It
had a capacity of 240 telephone links or one television channel.The
satellite was originally Designed to last for 18 months, it was in use
for 3½ years, even being reactivated briefly to celebrate Intelsat’s
20th anniversary in 1984.

The Early Bird satellite was launched on a Delta
D rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I, seen below) was the first
commercial computer produced in the United States. It was delivered to the 
U.S. Census Bureau on March 31, 1951, and was dedicated on June 14 that
same year. 
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Edward H. White (above) made the United States’ first spacewalk during
the Gemini 4 mission. It was on the third orbit when White opened his
hatch and used the hand-held maneuvering oxygen-jet gun to push
himself out of the capsule. The EVA started over the Pacific Ocean
near Hawaii and lasted 23 minutes, ending over the Gulf of Mexico.

The above photographs of the spacewalk were taken by commander
James McDivitt.

June 18, 1965

Skylab One, the first U.S. manned space station, was launched into orbit around Earth by a Saturn V booster rocket (shown below).

Liftoff of the Saturn V rocket with Skylab One aboard.

Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the U.S. Apollo space program
and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was successfully launched
toward the Moon on Saturday, April 11, 1970, but the landing had to be aborted
two days later on the 13th after an oxygen tank ruptured, severely damaging the spacecraft’s electrical system. The flight was commanded by James A. Lovel
(above right) with John ‘Jack’ Swigert (center) as Command Module pilot and
Fred W. Haise (left) as Lunar Module pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for 
the original CM pilot Ken Mattingly, who was grounded by the flight surgeon
after exposure to German Measles. To conserve its batteries and the oxygen
needed for the last hours of flight, the crew instead used the Lunar Module’s
resources during the return trip to Earth. Despite great hardship caused by
limited power,loss of cabin heat, shortage of suitable water and the critical
need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely
to Earth on Friday, April 17. NASA called the mission a "successful failure”.

View of the severely damaged Service Module after separation

Apollo 13 Splashdown

Apollo 13 crew arrive on the prime recovery ship U.S.S. Iwo Jima after a
successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Ken Mattingly