June 1982:milestones

February 1982

18 A two day demonstration countdown test for the Shuttle’s third orbital mission begins with astronauts Lousma and Fullerton aboard Columbia. The launch team are confident of meeting the scheduled 22 March launch target.

27 A report in Soviet Weekly confirms that an Indian will take part in a manned Soviet spaceflight.

28 The Marecs 1 maritime communications satellite, launched by Ariane L04 from Kourou, French Guiana last December, officially takes over from the Marisat satellite as the Atlantic link in the Inmarsat system. The system allows ship/shore worldwide communications. The Marisat craft will be held in a backup capacity and Marecs 2 will be launched towards the end of April to take over the Pacific service.

March 1982

1 A landing capsule from the Venera 13 spacecraft lands on the surface of Venus at 7.5' S and a longitude of 303°, east of the Phoebe area. The capsule survived the 89 atmospheres pressure for about four hours and took a soil sample aboard for analysis. Photographs through red, green and blue filters will allow colour pictures of the surface to be assembled. Venera 14 is expected to reach the planet on 5 March.

2 Pioneer 10, the first spacecraft to fly past Jupiter, completes 10 years in space today. It has travelled more than 6,600 million km and received more than 40,000 commands from Earth. It is presently halfway between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune, still returning data on the far reaches of the Sun’s atmosphere. By tne end of this decade it will have left the Solar System.

3 Mr. William Whitelaw, the Home Secretary, announces that Britain will have two new TV channels available from Direct Broadcast Satellites by 1986. The BBC will run both channels, one a subscription service with feature films, sporting and cultural events; the other showing more inter¬ national programmes. British Telecom, British Aerospace and Marconi have already conducted extensive studies. Further channels will be available later.

5 The fourth Intelsat V communications satellite is launched by Atlas Centaur from Cape Canaveral. The satellite, capable of handling 12,000 simultaneous telephone calls, will serve the Indian Ocean region.

5 Venera 14 lands a capsule on Venus at 13.25° S and a longitude of 310.7°, east of Phoebe, on a hill. Colour pictures are returned and soil analysis takes place.