The Explorers' Club, № MLXXIV

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of AS-103
16 February 1965: AS-103 (Saturn I S.A.-9) lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy A.F.S., the third flight of a boilerplate Apollo C.S.M.; the Launch Escape System was jettisoned for the second time; AS-103 deployed the Pegasus I micrometeoroid detection satellite, which remained in operation until 1968 & in orbit until 1978; a television camera recorded the unfolding of Pegasus I's "wings."

Commentary: The AS-103 test flight was launched the day before the Ranger 8 lunar probe (episode № MLXXIII). Busy days on the "Space Coast," endeavoring to achieve the late President Kennedy's goal by the end-of-the-decade deadline.

Ex Luna, scientia.