Apr 13 1959
From The Space Library
DISCOVERER II satellite successfully placed into polar orbit by Thor-Agena A booster, but capsule ejection malfunctioned causing it to impact in vicinity of Spitsbergen on April 14 instead of vicinity of Hawaii. It was first vehicle known to have been placed in a polar orbit and was the first attempt to recover an object from orbit.
VANGUARD (SLV-5) failed to achieve payload orbit because of loss of second-stage pitch attitude control.
