German A-4 (V-2) rocket traveled 196.5 km after launch from Peenemünde. References: 17 .

Launched 10:00 local time. Reached 100.8 km. Carried cosmic and solar radiation, photo (Naval Research Lab); composition (Signal Corps Engineering Lab, University of Michigan); biological experiments for Applied Physics Lab, John Hopkins University.

Launched 11:01 local time. Reached 149 km. Carried cosmic and solar radiation, pressure, temperature experiments for Naval Research Lab.

Temperature, winds research. Launched at 2350 local time. Reached 106.2 km.

Tsien Hsue-shen submits proposal to State Council for ballistic missile development. References: 87 .

Roy W. Johnson, Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), testified before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics that DOD and ARPA had no lunar landing program. Herbert F. York, DOD Director of Defense Research and Engineering, testified that exploration of the moon was a NASA responsibility. References: 16 .

Operated for 18 days; satellite wobble degraded data. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Maximum Speed - 1667 kph. Maximum Altitude - 16045 m. Automatic shutdown of one chamber in upper XLR-11. References: 38 , 49 , 97 .

KH-5; film capsule not ejected. Mission failed. Program malfunctioned and capsule did not reenter. First attempted ARGON mission. Officially: Spacecraft Engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A). References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

North American proposed an idea for increasing the CM's land landing capability. This could be done, the company asserted, by raising the water impact limits (thus exceeding normal tolerances) and stiffening the shock struts. Additional Details: Increase in the Apollo CM's land landing capability. References: 16 .

Maximum Speed - 5649 kph. Maximum Altitude - 28986 m. Right main landing gear extended at Mach 4.1; normal landing. References: 38 , 49 , 97 .

Returned 7137 photos before lunar impact. The Atlas- Agena B booster injected the Agena and Ranger 8 into an Earth parking orbit at 185 km altitude 7 minutes after launch. Fourteen minutes later a 90 second burn of the Agena put the spacecraft into lunar transfer trajectory, and several minutes later the Ranger and Agena separated. The Ranger solar panels were deployed, attitude control activated, and spacecraft transmissions switched from the omni-directional antenna to the high-gain antenna by 21:30 GMT. On 18 February at a distance of 160,000 km from Earth the planned mid-course manoeuvre took place, involving reorientation and a 59 second rocket burn. During the 27 minute manoeuvre, spacecraft transmitter power dropped severely, so that lock was lost on all telemetry channels. This continued intermittently until the rocket burn, at which time power returned to normal. The telemetry dropout had no serious effects on the mission. A planned terminal sequence to point the cameras more in the direction of flight just before reaching the Moon was cancelled to allow the cameras to cover a greater area of the Moon's surface.

Ranger 8 reached the Moon on 20 February 1965. The first image was taken at 9:34:32 GMT at an altitude of 2510 km. Transmission of 7,137 photographs of good quality occurred over the final 23 minutes of flight. The final image taken before impact has a resolution of 1.5 meters. The spacecraft encountered the lunar surface in a direct hyperbolic trajectory, with incoming asymptotic direction at an angle of -13.6 degrees from the lunar equator. The orbit plane was inclined 16.5 degrees to the lunar equator. After 64.9 hours of flight, impact occurred at 09:57:36.756 GMT on 20 February 1965 in Mare Tranquillitatis at approximately 2.67 degrees N, 24.65 degrees E. Impact velocity was slightly less than 2.68 km/s. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 278 , 296 .

Scientific satellite 'D-I' launched from Hammaguir (Algeria). References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

NASA announced that the Apollo Applications Program had been redesignated the Skylab Program. The name Skylab, a contraction connoting a laboratory in the sky, was proposed by Donald L. Steelman, USAF, while assigned to NASA. The name was proposed following an announcement by NASA in 1968 that they were seeking a new name for AAP. Then NASA decided to postpone renaming the program because of budgetary restrictions. Skylab was later referred to the NASA Project Designation Committee and was approved 17 February 1970.

Radar calibarion sphere. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A). References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Radar calibarion sphere. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A). References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Radar calibarion sphere. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A). References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

KH-4B. Mission failed. References: 5 , 126 .

The Manned Spacecraft Center was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center by Public Law 93-8. The late President's interest and support of the space program began while he was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences and continued during his tenure as Vice President and President. References: 16 .

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On work on Energia-Buran, DOS-7K nos. 7 and 8, Gamma. Geyzer (Potok), and Altair (Luch) and cancellation of the N1' was issued. The design of an improved model of the Salyut DOS-17K space station was authorised as part of the third generation of Soviet space systems in a decree. At that time it was planned that the two stations (DOS-7 and DOS-8) would be equipped with two docking ports at either end of the station and an additional two ports at the sides of the forward small diameter compartment. Luch and Potok were elements of the second generation global command and control system (GKKRS) deployed in the first half of the 1980's. Luch satellites, analogous to the US TDRS, provided communications service to the Mir space station, Buran space shuttle, Soyuz-TM spacecraft, military satellites, and the TsUPK ground control center. They also served to provide mobile fleet communications for the Soviet Navy. References: 474 .

Triple Glonass launch; three satellites (Cosmos 1917, 1918, 1919) failed to separate. A Proton carrier rocket was put into staging orbit to test components, also apparatus for a space navigation system. The satellites were not put into their designed orbit owing to a malfunction in the separation assembly controls. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 67 , 274 .

Triple Glonass launch; three satellites (Cosmos 1917, 1918, 1919) failed to separate. A Proton carrier rocket was put into staging orbit to test components, also apparatus for a space navigation system. The satellites were not put into their designed orbit owing to a malfunction in the separation assembly controls. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 67 , 274 .

Triple Glonass launch; three satellites (Cosmos 1917, 1918, 1919) failed to separate. A Proton carrier rocket was put into staging orbit to test components, also apparatus for a space navigation system. The satellites were not put into their designed orbit owing to a malfunction in the separation assembly controls. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 67 , 274 .

Military cartographic satellite; returned film capsule. References: 1 , 2 , 6 .

Glonass navigation spacecraft. Work on the Glonass global space navigation system being set up to determine the position of civil aircraft and vessels of the merchant marine and fishing fleet. Constellation 1. Put into service on 14 March 1993 and taken out of service on 23 August 1997. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 67 , 274 .

Glonass navigation spacecraft. Work on the Glonass global space navigation system being set up to determine the position of civil aircraft and vessels of the merchant marine and fishing fleet. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 67 , 274 .

Glonass navigation spacecraft. Work on the Glonass global space navigation system being set up to determine the position of civil aircraft and vessels of the merchant marine and fishing fleet. Constellation 1. Put into service on 25 August 1993 and taken out of service on 4 August 1997. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 67 , 274 .

Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission was the first of NASA's Discovery missions, a series of small-scale spacecraft designed to proceed from development to flight in under three years for a cost of less than $150 million. The spacecraft's mission was to rendezvous with and achieve orbit around the asteroid Eros in January, 1999, and study the asteroid for one year. Prior to its encounter with Eros NEAR flew within 1200 km of the C-class asteroid Mathilde on 27 June 1997. It then flew by the Earth on 23 January 1998. A problem caused an abort of the first encounter burn and the mission had to be rescoped for a later encounter. NEAR finally entered orbit around Eros on February 14, 2000. Orbit insertion was at 15:34 GMT into a 323 x 370 km initial orbit with a period of 27 days. The renamed NEAR-Shoemaker probe moved into a 100 x 200 km orbit around Eros on April 2 at 0200 GMT. NEAR returned spectacular detailed pictures of the surface over the next several months. Studies were made of the asteroid's size, shape, mass, magnetic field, composition, and surface and internal structure. Periapsis of the orbit would be as low as 24 km above the surface of the asteroid during the final days of the mission. References: 4 , 6 , 296 .

Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 2 - Solar array drive replacement. References: 66 .

Geosynchronous. Stationed over 150.0E Launch vehicle put payload into supersynchronous earth orbit with IFR/MRS trajectory option. References: 4 , 278 .

Topographic mapping for the Army General Staff. Landed in Kazakhstan April 2 1998. References: 4 , 276 .