Space History for November 16 - lots of it!

[CalliArcale]

It's been ages since I've done one of these threads. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> So here we go!<br /><br />On November 16, 1962, the third Saturn C-1 (aka Saturn I) was launched. It was the first flight with a fully fueled vehicle, and it carried 23,000 gallons of water to simulate the weight of upper stages. At the rocket's apogee of 167 km, the water was released in an experiment called Project Highwater. The water turned into an enormous cloud of ice particles miles across. Unfortunately, insufficient data was collected to make the results useful, but the Saturn launch was a success even if Project Highwater was not -- Saturn was now three for three and well on its way to a very impressive safety record.<br /><br />Two years later, Novembetr 16, 1964, the Apollo Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, or LLRV (affectionately known as "the flying bedstead") made its first successful flight. Built by Bell Aerosystems (better known for its helicopters), the LLRV was piloted by famed test pilot Joseph A Walker. This was not strictly speaking the first flight, but it was considered the first <i>successful</i> flight, as the test flights on October 30 were all just short hops ten feet into the air (also piloted by Walker), typical of initial helicopter testing. The success of the LLRV led to the fabrication of LLTVs (Lunar Landing Training Vehicles) and also had implications for the construction of LEM simulators. The particular LLRV flown by Joe Walker on November 16 flew for three and a half years and then crashed in 1968 due to a loss of attitude control. The test pilot at the time was Neil Armstrong, who ejected safely and suffered only minor injuries. Armstrong, of course, would pilot the real LEM a year later to a successful landing on the Moon. Walker was not as lucky; he died in 1966 when his F-104 was sucked into a vortex produced by the mammoth XB-70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber, colliding with the larger vehicle and destroying both aircraft.<br /><br />1 <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>

 

[telfrow]

Lived through them all and remember most of them (not bad at my age <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />)...nothing in the 50's? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

I cribbed it from Astronautix.com. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> They had some stuff from the 50s, and even in the 40s, but I went for the most exciting stuff. I'll list a few interesting items from before the 60s:<br /><br />November 16, 1944: A V-2 rocket launched towards Antwerp went offcourse and crashed near a hospital in Hellendoom.<br /><br />November 16, 1950: Astronaut Carl Meade was born. He made three flights: STS-38, STS-50, and STS-64 (on which he tested the SAFER backpack).<br /><br />November 16, 1956: Vandenburg AFB was selected as the site for the first ICBM facility in North America. <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>

 

[telfrow]

Okay, I wasn't alive for the 1944 V-2, but it is interesting to find out I'm two months older than Carl Meade.... <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[erauskydiver]

November 16, 1944: A V-2 rocket launched towards Antwerp went offcourse and crashed near a hospital in Hellendoom. "<br /><br /><br />I wouldnt expect anything else for a hospital in Hellendoom!!! I think that if I was ever in that area and needed a hospital, I'd politely request that the paramedics take me to a hospital with a not so negative name.

 

[rvastro]

<font color="yellow">A year later, on November 16, 1963, a Titan 2 blasted off from Cape Canaveral carrying Gemini 4 aloft. The crew were James McDivitt and Ed White. This was the second manned Gemini and the first American long-duration mission, lasting four days. (Admittedly, that's not a long-duration flight by modern standards, but it was a big change from Mercury's maximum of seven revolutions.) It was also remarkable for another reason -- in response to the recent Soviet success of Voskhod 2, where Leonov became the world's first spacewalker, a short EVA was added into the mission. After completing attempted rendezvous maneuvers with a spent booster (simulating the Agena targets to which later Geminis would dock), Ed White performed his spacewalk. The cabin was depressurized and White moved out into space. White experimented with a hand-held cold-gas thruster called a "zip gun" which proved difficult to control. After fifteen minutes, he returned to the spacecraft. Various experiments were conducted over the next few days, in particular experiments relating to the crewmen's adaptation to space. After forty-eight revolutions, the biggest failure of the mission occurred -- their computer was acting up, and soon died altogether. After sixty-two revolutions, they carried out a manual Mercury-style reentry, which subjected them to higher than anticpated G-loads on a ballistic reentry. Being fighter pilots, this did not trouble them and they apparently enjoyed the descent, despite not getting the lift Gemini was designed to produce. Although the planned rendezvous attempt was unsuccessful, all other experiments were successful and a great deal of experience came out of the failed rendezvous attempt. </font><br /><br />I think that date is about a year and a half off. Gemini 4 was launched on June 3, 1965!

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"...it is interesting to find out I'm two months older than Carl Meade..."</font><br /><br />I'm 3 months older <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" />. <br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"Gemini 4 was launched on June 3, 1965!"</font><br /><br />Yep. Says so right here. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[telfrow]

You old fogey you...<img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Whoa, so that means Astronautix.com is wrong? Eek! Lemme just double check how they reported it -- they do sometimes list preliminary activities in the history pages; I think those pages are populated by a database or something.<br /><br />*looks*<br /><br />D'oh. What happened on Nov 16 wasn't the launch. It was a meeting to finalize the flight profile. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> I'll go remove it from the history list above. *sheepish grin* <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>

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"You old fogey you...<img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />"</font><br /><br />Back at ya'! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>