1960s Timeline

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May 16, 2023

🚨Major Cooper Lands Safely in Pacific

May 16, 1963 - Major Gordon Cooper landed safely in the Pacific today after a magnificently executed 22-orbit flight. The closing phase...

May 16, 2023

Cooper Set to Splash Down Tonight

May 16, 1963 - Major Gordon Cooper was speeding around the earth today on the longest spaceflight ever made by an American. At 3 a.m....

May 15, 2023

Multiple Reasons for “Faith 7” Name

May 15, 1963 - Major Gordon Cooper, assigned to spend more time in space than any other American to date, christened his space vehicle...

May 15, 2023

Capacity Crowd Watches Cooper Launch at Grand Central Terminal

May 15, 1963 - A capacity crowd of 8,000 jammed into the main concourse of New York’s Grand Central Terminal today to watch the televised...

May 15, 2023

President Kennedy Pleased with Cooper Launch

May 15, 1963 - President Kennedy expressed happiness at the success of Major Gordon Cooper’s launching into space this morning at 9:04...

May 15, 2023

🚨Astronaut Cooper Thunders into Orbit

May 15, 1963 - Astronaut Gordon Cooper thundered into orbit this morning at 9:04 a.m. in a flawless launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The...

May 14, 2023

Astronaut Cooper Set for Blast-Off Tomorrow Morning

May 14, 1963 - After a 24-hour postponement, it’s “go” again for astronaut Gordon Cooper’s 22-orbit rocket ride tomorrow morning. Project...

Apr 1, 2023

Cooper Prepares for 22-Orbit Journey

Apr. 1, 1963 - On his forthcoming 22-orbit flight, Major Gordon Cooper (pictured), the Mercury astronaut, will send back a television...

Mar 30, 2023

Capt. Dwight Is First Negro Candidate for NASA Program

Mar. 30, 1963 - The first Negro candidate for future U.S. manned space programs was among 15 test pilot trainees whose names were...

Feb 20, 2023

Movies: “The John Glenn Story”

Feb. 20, 1963 - The first anniversary of John Glenn’s flight into space is being celebrated by Warner Brothers with the release of a...

Feb 20, 2023

John Glenn Presents Space Capsule to Smithsonian

Feb. 20, 1963 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. presented the space capsule Friendship VII to the Smithsonian Institution today. Along with...

Feb 20, 2023

Venus Too Hot To Be Habitable

Feb. 20, 1963 - Temperatures on the surface of Venus were found by the Mariner space probe to be about 800 degrees Fahrenheit, it was...

Dec 28, 2022

Psychiatrist: NASA Astronauts Largely Free of Self-Doubt

Dec. 28, 1962 - The main difference between astronauts and most of the rest of us is they know how to control their anxieties — in fact,...

Nov 21, 2022

Warrant Issued for Astronaut Grissom

Nov. 21, 1962 - The fact that Major Virgil I. Grissom (right) has been in outer space does not excuse him from paying a traffic fine for...

Nov 13, 2022

Major Cooper Named for Next Mercury Flight

Nov. 13, 1962 - Maj. Gordon Cooper, the only eligible Mercury astronaut who has not yet been rocketed into space, has been named for the...

Nov 5, 2022

First U.S. Space Chimp is Dead

Nov. 5, 1962 - Enos, the first chimpanzee to orbit the earth in a U.S. space capsule, died of dysentery yesterday, the Air Force said...

Oct 7, 2022

NASA: Gordon or Shepard to Make Next Orbital Flight

Oct. 7, 1962 - A NASA official said today that the astronaut for the 18-orbit, one-day Mercury flight in early 1963 could be either...

Oct 3, 2022

🚨Schirra Flies Six Orbits, Returns Safely

Oct. 3, 1962 - Commander Walter M. Schirra Jr. flew six orbits around the earth today, twice as far as the two Americans who had orbited...

Sep 20, 2022

Congress Endorses Force, if Necessary, on Cuba

Sept. 20, 1962 - A resolution endorsing the use of force, if necessary, to prevent the spread of Cuban Marxism in the Western Hemisphere...

Sep 19, 2022

Senate Passes Administration’s Foreign Trade Bill in Major Victory for President

Sept. 19, 1962 - The Senate passed the Administration’s foreign trade bill today and thus capped for President Kennedy his biggest...