Posted on August 12, 2020
August 12, 1960:
NASA's first successful communications satellite was launched. Called Echo1A, it was a "passive" communications satellite, because this metalized balloon-like spacecraft merely reflected microwave signals - bouncing them from one spot on Earth to another - rather than actively receiving and transmitting signals.
Echo 1A was nicknamed a satelloon!
August 12, 1977:
NASA's first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
What does "free flight" mean? It certainly wasn't without monetary cost! But before the Space Shuttle was launched into space, its ability to taxi down an airstrip and to fly was tested - both on its own and when mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).
The first tests were called "captive tests," and these were when the Space Shuttle was attached to the SCA. The Shuttle wasn't doing any of the flying on these tests. Only after the Shuttle passed several captive tests did a free flight occur. The Shuttle was mated to SCA for take off and carried up to a fairly high altitude, where it was jettisoned away from the SCA. The crew on the Shuttle supervised a gliding approach to the runway and landed the Shuttle.
The Enterprise was the prototype Space Shuttle but was built without engines or a functioning heat shield. It was not capable of space flight, and it was a bit lighter than functional Space Shuttles. So after it passed its free flight tests, actual Space Shuttles had to be tested.
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