Oct 26 1968
From The Space Library
Business Week editorial: ". . . since the tragedy on the launch pad .. . [Tan. 27, 1967] NASA and its thousands of supporting companies have done a tremendous job in rebuilding the spacecraft and in perfecting the safety and reliability of the entire Apollo system. The clear message of Apollo 7 is that NASA now has a spacecraft that can take men to the moon and back safely. This is a triumph for NASA and for U.S. science, engineering, and management. (Bus Wk, 10/26/68)
October 26-30: U.S.S.R. successfully launched Soyuz III, carrying Cosmonaut Georgy T. Beregovoy, from Baikonur Cosmodrome with "a powerful rocket-booster," Tass announced. Spacecraft entered orbit "close to the preset one," with 205-km (127.4-mi) apogee, 183-km (113.7-mi) perigee, 88.3-min period, and 51.7° inclination; all equipment was functioning normally. Launch was first manned Soviet mission since Soyuz I (April 23-24, 1967) , in which Cosmonaut Vladimir M. Komarov was killed when spacecraft crashlanded following reentry. Tass later announced that during first revolution Soyuz III "approached" to within 200 m (656 ft) of unmanned Soyuz II (launched Oct. 25), initially by "an automatic system"; subsequent operations were performed manually by Beregovoy. On Oct. 27, Tass said, Beregovoy "independently oriented the ship in space and switched on the motor," to alter spacecraft's orbit; continued conducting scientific, technical, medical, and biological experiments and research; transmitted TV pictures of cabin interior; and approached Soyuz II for second time before it reentered Oct 28. Soyuz III remained in orbit until Oct. 30, completing 94 hrs 51 min and 64 orbits, before it softlanded "with the use of aerodynamics," in a preset area in Soviet territory. (Lannan W Star, 10/27/68, Al; O'Toole, W Post, 10/27/68, Al; Kamm, NYT, 10/27/68; SBA 10/28/68, 279; 10/31/68, 297; AP, W Post, 10/28/68, Al; GSFC SSR, 10/31/68)
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