June 1, 2020 - We Try Harder

We Try Harder  By mid-1965, the Soviet Union was leading the space race. In 1963, the Soviets set a space endurance record of five days. In the fall of 1964, a year in which NASA had no human spaceflights at all, the Soviets launched a three-cosmonaut crew. The following March, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to walk in space. The Soviet lead in space was increasing, but the Gemini IV mission, launched 55 years ago this week, closed the gap. Four hours into the mission, astronaut Ed White opened the capsule’s hatch and made America’s first spacewalk, floating in space for 20 minutes. This was NASA’s second two-astronaut flight, and White and crewmate Jim McDivitt spent just over four days in space, nearly three times as long as the previous American record set in 1963.

Image credit: NASA

Weekly Calendar

June 1 - 7, 2020

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

 

Monday 1

Tuesday 2

1930: Charles “Pete” Conrad born
1966: Surveyor 1 lands on Moon
1970: First glide test of M2-F3 lifting body
1998: STS-91 Discovery launched
2003: Mars Express / Beagle 2 launched

Wednesday 3

Moon at perigee
Venus in inferior conjunction

1948: 200-inch Hale telescope dedicated
1965: Gemini IV launched; Ed White takes America’s first space walk
1966: Gemini IX launched
2017: SpaceX CRS-10 launched, first flight to ISS of previously flown Dragon capsule

Thursday 4

Mercury greatest elongation (24° E)

1971: Last X-24A lifting body flight
1974: Construction begins on space shuttle Enterprise
2000: Compton Gamma Ray Observatory reenters atmosphere

Friday 5

Full Moon 3:12 PM ET (Penumbral eclipse)

1819: John Couch Adams born
1989: Voyager 2 begins regular observations of Neptune
1991: STS-40 Columbia launched
2002: STS-111 Endeavour launched

Saturday 6

1932: Dave Scott born
1971: Soyuz 11 launched, first crew to occupy Salyut 1 space station
1983: Venera 16 launched
2018: Soyuz MS-09 launched carrying ISS Expedition 56/57 crew

Sunday 7

1992: Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer launched
2011: Soyuz TMA-02M launched carrying ISS Expedition 28/29 crew