One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
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1958<br />
<strong>The</strong> Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile was conceived in the late 1950s<br />
and deployed in silos during the 1960s.<br />
March 17: Vanguard I, the first solar-powered satellite, was launched into<br />
orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida.<br />
March 23: <strong>The</strong> Navy conducted the first underwater test-firing <strong>of</strong> a Polaris<br />
ballistic missile launched from a nuclear submarine. <strong>The</strong> test took<br />
place in the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles.<br />
April 28: After an in-flight explosion, the pilot and navigator <strong>of</strong> a 341st Bombardment<br />
Wing B–47 ejected successfully. While attempting to egress,<br />
the copilot, 1st Lt. James E. Obenauf, noticed another crew member<br />
unconscious and incapable <strong>of</strong> escape. Instead <strong>of</strong> ejecting, Lieutenant<br />
Obenauf remained on the crippled and burning aircraft, piloting it<br />
from the backseat position to a safe landing at Dyess <strong>Air</strong> Force Base,<br />
Texas. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism.<br />
May 27: Company pilot Robert Little made the first flight <strong>of</strong> the McDonnell<br />
F4H–1 (F–4) Phantom II from Saint Louis, Missouri.<br />
July 9: A Thor-Able reentry test vehicle, in the first nose-cone test at intercontinental<br />
ballistic missile range and velocity, carried a mouse some<br />
6,000 miles over the Atlantic Ocean in flight from Cape Canaveral,<br />
Florida, to the Ascension Island area.<br />
July 14: President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched Operation BLUE BAT to<br />
restore order in Lebanon after civil unrest threatened to overthrow its<br />
government. During the operation, the <strong>Air</strong> Force airlifted troops to<br />
Beirut after U.S. marines had landed by sea to secure its airport. <strong>The</strong><br />
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