September 4, 2017 - Like a Rocket Takes to Water
Like a Rocket Takes to Water Germany’s V-2 rocket, the world’s first long-range guided missile, was developed too late to change the course of World War II, but it did change the course of space exploration. At the end of the war, the United States and the Soviet Union vied for control over the treasure trove of German rockets and the scientists who designed them. Both countries benefitted from these spoils of war, and seventy years ago today the US launched the first rocket—a captured V-2—from the deck of an aircraft carrier. Since then, rocket launches from sea platforms have become common (most notably by the Sea Launch company), but a new twist occurred in 2016 when, as seen here, the SpaceX company landed the first stage of its reusable Falcon 9 rocket on a floating platform at sea.
Image credit: SpaceX
Weekly Calendar
September 4-10, 2017
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 4
Labor Day
Mercury appears stationary
Tuesday 5
Neptune at opposition
Jupiter 3° north of Spica
1964: OGO-1 launched
1977: Voyager 1 launched
Wednesday 6
Neptune 0.8° north of Moon
Full Moon 3:03 AM ET
1947: First rocket launch (V-2) from an aircraft carrier
1983: STS-8 Challenger makes first shuttle night landing
2013: LADEE lunar orbiter launched
Thursday 7
1995: STS-69 Endeavour launched
Friday 8
1966: “Star Trek” premieres
1967: Surveyor 5 launched
2000: STS-106 Atlantis launched
2004: Genesis spacecraft crash-lands on return to Earth
2016: OSIRIS-REx launched
Saturday 9
Uranus 4° north of Moon
1789: William Bond born
1892: E. E. Barnard discovers Amalthea
1975: Viking 2 launched
1982: Conestoga 1 launched
1994: STS-64 Discovery launched
2006: STS-115 Atlantis launched
Sunday 10
Mercury 0.6° south of Regulus
1857: James Keeler born
1967: Surveyor 5 lands on Moon
1978: Venera 11 launched
2011: GRAIL spacecraft launched