2009 – ISS Expedition19 launch at 11:49 UTC aboard the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft on a mission that will ultimately inaugurate the expansion of the station to six crew members. The Expedition 19 crew will work with experiments across a wide variety of fields, including human life sciences, physical sciences and Earth observation, and conduct technology demonstrations.
1999 – Asteroid (10115)1992 SK, a near Earth minor planet in the Apollo group, Near-Earth Flyby (0.0560 AU).
1996 – The three-meter diameter telescope of the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility atop Mauna Kea gathered spectral measurements of the gases escaping Comet Hyakutake. “The spectral lines, or identifying signature of ethane gas, were so bright they seemed to leap off the computer screen when we got the first observation,” Dr. Michael J. Mumma. Further observations and analysis showed that ethane and methane each constitute about one percent of the frozen gases in Comet Hyakutake.
1971 – Shuttle Development: The teams of McDonnell Douglas/Martin Marrietta and North American Rockwell/General Dynamics make their final proposals for the Phase B contracts. They provided considerably different winged booster stage designs. One common feature was the use of aluminium structures and non-metallic thermal protection systems. In late 1969 the USAF had indicated a preference for all-aluminium structures in due to a titanium shortage.
Birthdays
1962– Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko Missions: Soyuz TM-22 (Mir EO-20), Soyuz TM-31/STS-102 (Expedition 1), Soyuz TM-34/Soyuz TM-33 Time in space: 329d 22h 44min
