Space History for January 24

[CalliArcale]

Happy birthday to Bill Readdy! Born on January 24, 1952, he joined the US Navy, graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1974 with honors, receiving a bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering. He went on to serve as a naval aviator, ultimately acheiving the rank of Captain. In 1986, he accepted a Naval Reserve commission and joined NASA as an aerospace engineer and research pilot, also managing the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. He ultimately went on to fly the Shuttle itself, serving as Pilot on STS-42, STS-51, and STS-79 (the first Shuttle mission to swap crew aboard Mir). He still works for NASA as Johnson Space Center, and is eligible to command a future Shuttle flight.<br /><br />On January 24, 1981, practising something that would later keep other, bigger space stations in business, Progress 12 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Soyuz rocket. It docked autonomously with Salyut 6 two days later, remaining there until March 19. It was destroyed during reentry (as planned) on March 20. Salyut 6 was one of the most successful of the Soviet space stations prior to Mir, seeing new records on crew duration and introducing the guest cosmonaut program. As on Salyut 7, Mir, and the ISS, the Soyuz "lifeboats" had to be swapped out periodically. Salyut 6 also saw the introduction of the Soyuz-T capsule that would be the mainstay of the program for many years. Probably the most interesting feature of Salyut-6 was the new two-port configuration. This is what enabled continuous operation for the first time. Crews could be rotated and supplies could be uploaded via Progress without somehow undocking the crew's only means of escape. It was a significant step forwards.<br /><br />On January 24, 1985, STS-51C launched from Kennedy Space Center. The Space Shuttle Discovery, with a crew of Buchli, Mattingly, Onizuka, Payton, and Shriver, deployed USA 8, an ELINT satellite operated by the National Reconnaisance Office.<br /><br />On January 24, 1990, the Japa <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>