February 1982:milestones

October 1981

30 The Soviets take advantage of the 1981 Venus launch window by launching Venera 13 and (on 4 November) Venera 14. The craft will reach Venus in March and are expected to drop capsules to the planet’s surface to make the first soil analysis.

November 1981

1 Norway becomes ESA’s second Associate Member State (Austria is the first), for a period of five years during which time it may become a full Member State. Norway already takes part in the Marecs (Maritime Communications Satellite) and remote sensing programmes.

4 Press reports indicate that OTRAG, a privately-financed company aimed atdeveloping cheap orbital launchers, is pulling out of its Libyan launch site. The company will concentrate on high-altitude, instead of orbital, rockets in the near future.

4 The first launch attempt of Shuttle Columbia in its second mission ends just 31 seconds short of launch. Oxygen pressure problems in the External Tank cause a longer-than-scheduled hold at T-9 minutes and then similarly with the Auxiliary Power Units (used for providing hydraulic power for the control surfaces) closer to lift-off. A 48 hr postponement is called.

9 ESA announces that the launch of Ariane L04 from Kourou in Cuiana has been postponed from 14 to 18 December because a strike at the Toulouse Space Centre in France has delayed the delivery of the Marecs-A satellite. The launcher itself has been at the firing site since 12 October.

12 Columbia makes her second flight into space, with astronauts Joe Engle and Dick Truly aboard. The craft returns on 14 November, short of the planned 5 days, after one of the three fuel cells is shut down.