January 1983:milestones

September 1982

20 The Progress 15 supply craft docks with the Salyut 7 space station, still occupied by the first long-stay crew, Berezevoi and Lebedev. The crew were to remain aboard for four months initially but it now appears that target has been raised to six months, and possibly longer.

21 Shuttle Orbiter Columbia is transported to launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center for its fifth orbital flight. One thermal tile remains to be attached (273 were removed after the last mission, 170 of them damaged during the flight). A mock countdown with all four astronauts aboard will take place on tne 24th and the two communications satellites will be installed in the cargo bay during 18 October. After STS-5, Columbia will be taken out of service to allow modifications in time for the Spacelab mission next September.

22 It is reported that US spending on military space projects will be raised to $11,000 million by 198/. NASA’s budget for fiscal year 1982 is $5,500 M (military: $6,400 M); for FY 1983 $6,100 M (military: $8,500 M) is being sought.

28 The fifth Intelsat 5 communications satellite is launched by Atlas Centaur from the Kennedy Space Center. It carries an additional maritime communications subsystem with a 30 voice-channel capacity to be leased to the International Maritime Satellite Organization.

29 It is announced that NASA and Canada have agreed to the selection of several (up to five) Canadians for training as Mission Specialists for Space Shuttle missions.

October 1982

4 The 25th anniversary of the launching of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite.

9 The crew for the 10th Shuttle orbital mission, an all-military flight carrying the Teal Ruby satellite, is announced as Tom Mattingly (Cdr.), Loren Shriver (Pit.), and Ellison Onizuka and James-Buchli (Mission Specialists). Mattingly commanded the STS-4 mission last summer. STS-10 launch date is 14 December 1983.

12 The Soviet Union launches three satellites (Cosmos 1413--1415) with the same booster to begin the formation of a global navigation satellite system.

13 The two communications satellites, SBS and Anik C3, are transported to the launch pad for installation in Shuttle Orbiter Columbia's cargo bay on 18 October for the STS-5 mission. They will be the first commercial satellites carried.

14 The local Cape Canaveral Today newspaper reports that the Astrotech International company will build a satellite processing facility to compete with NASA’s own. The space agency presently charges almost $2 million for every satellite they prepare for launch (adding boost motors, testing mechanical systems, etc). NASA appears to welcome the competition because it shifts work away from their hard-pressed facilities.