Ranger 9. was the last in a series of NASA’S unmanned lunar explorations. It was designed to reach the Moon and transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes before impact. The spacecraft was equipped with
six vidicon cameras that transmitted high-quality television pictures of the Moon
prior to impact on the 24th of March.

Project Vanguard was a program of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. When 
the agency launched Vanguard 1, it became the second artificial satellite to be
placed successfully in Earth orbit by the United States. It was the first solar-
powered satellite. It is the oldest satellite still in space, as it’s predecessors,
Sputnik 1, Sputnik 2, and Explorer 1, have fallen out of orbit.

Frank Frederick Borman, II is a retired NASA astronaut and engineer, who 
is best remembered as the Commander of Apollo 8, the first mission to fly 
around the Moon along with fellow crew mates Jim Lovell and Bill Anders.

After leaving NASA, Borman was the CEO of Eastern Air Lines from 1975
to 1986. He is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

1968

The total solar eclipse of 1970 was visible across southern Mexico and the southeast coast of the United States and Canada. The greatest eclipse occurred over Mexico
and lasted up to 3 minutes and 28 seconds. There will not be a longer total eclipse
over the contiguous united States until April 8, 2024. The event was televised to
a national audience for the very first time in history.

Apollo 9, the third manned mission in the Apollo space program, was the first 
flight of the Command/Service Module (CSM) with the Lunar Module (LM).