Wikipedia:Today's featured list/March 18, 2024
1952 in spaceflight featured several branches of the United States' military, often in partnership with civilian organizations, continuing their programs of sounding rocket research beyond the 100-kilometre (62-mile) boundary of space (as defined by the World Air Sports Federation) using the Aerobee rocket. The University of Iowa launched its first series of rockoon flights, demonstrating the validity of the balloon-launched rocket, a comparatively inexpensive way to explore the upper atmosphere. The launch of Viking 9 (pictured) at the end of the year to an altitude of 135 miles (217 kilometres), by the Naval Research Laboratory team under the management of Milton Rosen, represented the pinnacle of contemporary operational rocket design. The same year, groundwork was laid for the launch of the first artificial satellite when, in October, the General Assembly of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) scheduled the International Geophysical Year for 1957–58. (Full list...)