Categories
Communications Science & Technology Uncrewed Spaceflight

Syncom 3

Syncom 3NASA launches the experimental, Hughes Aircraft-built communications satellite Syncom 3 into a geostationary orbit, the first human-made satellite to occupy that orbit. Much like Syncom 2, Syncom 3 is capable of handling two-way telephone calls, as well as teletype and fax transmissions. Placed in an orbit roughly over the International Date Line, Syncom 3 is instrumental in providing live TV coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics from Tokyo to American television audiences, and the satellite’s technology is considerably upgraded compared to that of Syncom 2 in order to handle television transmission. Control of Syncom 2 is handed over to the Department of Defense in 1965 once NASA has completed its run of experimental communications tests.

Categories
Crewed Spaceflight Salyut Soyuz

Soyuz T-7

Soyuz T-7The Soviet Union’s Soyuz T-7 mission lifts off from Baikonur Cosmodrome for a week-long stay in space, including a visit to space station Salyut 7. The three-person Soyuz crew includes the first woman in space since 1963. Cosmonauts Leonid Popov, Aleksandr Serebrov and Svetlana Savitskaya deliver supplies to Salyut 7 and perform experiments while docked to the station; on August 27th, they depart from the station aboard the Soyuz T-5 vehicle, leaving the newer T-7 capsule for the station crew’s use.

Categories
Luna Uncrewed Spaceflight

Luna 25 mission ends

Luna 25Russia’s Luna 25 mission to the lunar south pole ends unsuccessfully when an engine burn intended to lower the vehicle’s orbit around the moon into its final landing orbit goes awry. Luna 25 instead crashes into the moon as the result of the engine firing longer than expected. Contact with Luna 25 is not recovered following what the Russian space agency describes as an “abnormal situation”. The mission was Russia’s first attempt at a lunar landing in nearly 50 years.