On September 17, 1976, NASA publicly unveiled its first space
shuttle, the Enterprise, during a ceremony in Palmdale, California.

Development of the aircraft-like spacecraft cost almost $10 billion
and took nearly a decade. In 1977, the Enterprise became the first
space shuttle to fly freely when it was lifted to a height of 25,000
feet by a Boeing 747 airplane and then released, gliding back to
Edwards Air Force Base on its own accord.

From left to right they are: NASA Administrator Dr.
James D. Fletcher; DeForest Kelley, who portrayed
Dr. "Bones" McCoy on the series; George Takei
(Mr. Sulu); James Doohan (Chief Engineer
Montgomery "Scotty" Scott); Nichelle Nichols
(Lt. Uhura); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); series
creator Gene Roddenberry; an unnamed NASA
official; and, Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov).

"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds,
to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no
man has gone before," said actor William Shatner in the show’s
opening. 

The world first met Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock on this day in
history, Sept. 8, 1966, with the premiere of the television series
"Star Trek." 
FOX NEWS

September 8 is now celebrated worldwide by "Trekkies" as
"Star Trek Day."

William Shatner (93)

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford became
the first African American to travel into space when the
space shuttle Challenger lifted off on its third mission. It
was the first night launch of a space shuttle, and many
people stayed up late to watch the spacecraft roar up
from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 2:32 a.m.

The Challenger spent six days in space, during which time
Bluford and his four fellow crew members launched a
communications satellite for the government of India,
made contact with an errant communications satellite,
conducted scientific experiments, and tested the shuttle’s
robotic arm.

Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. will be 82 years old on
November 22.

TIM MAGUIRE

The concept of "Miranda rights" was enshrined in U.S. law following
the 1966 Miranda v. Arizona Supreme Court decision, which found
that the Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights of Ernesto Arturo Miranda
had been violated during his arrest and trial for armed robbery, kidnapping, and rape of a young woman.

Miranda was subsequently retried and convicted.

On January 31, 1976, a fight erupted at the Amapola Bar at 233
South 2nd Street in downtown Phoenix in which Miranda was
stabbed. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Banner Good
Samaritan Medical Center. He was 34.

The grave of Ernesto Arturo Miranda in the City of Mesa Cemetery.

On June 3, 1965, 120 miles above the Earth, Major Edward H.
White II opened the hatch of the Gemini 4 and steps out of the
capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to walk in
space. Attached to the craft by a 25-foot tether and controlling
his movements with a hand-held oxygen jet-propulsion gun,
White remained outside the capsule for just over 20 minutes. 

White had been preceded by Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei A.
Leonov, who on March 18, 1965, was the first man ever to 
walk in space.

     
     
     
     
   
Edward Higgins White II 
(November 14, 1930 – January 27, 1967