South Korea launched its first satellite, Uribyol-1 (aka KITSAT-1, KITSTA-A, KITSAT-OSCAR 23), August 10, 1992. It was a product of the Korean Institute of Technology Satellite and given the nickname "Our Star". It was expected to have a lifespan of only 5 years but communications were maintained for 12 years.
At the time, South Korea became the 22nd country to operate a satellite.
Betty Boop made her first appearance in Dizzy Dishes, August 9, 1930. She was created by at Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. Between 1930 and 1939, she was featured in 90 cartoons. Mae Questel provided the voice of Betty from 1931 on and she recreated the voice for Betty Boop in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
In 2002, she was ranked #17 in TV Guide's 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time
We're still reeling from the death of Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman), but we can still celebrate his legacy! His big screen debut Pee-wee's Big Adventure was released across the US August 9, 1985. I guess I was in the 'wrong crowd' because I found most of his antics to be juvenile and not very funny, but I admitted, even at the time, that the movie had its moments.
I liked the part where he proved to his girlfriend he was in San Antonio by singing the opening lines of Deep in the Heart of Texas. I also liked the scene where he rescues all the animals from the pet store.
It has become a cult classic and I will have to watch it again. I forgot that Godzilla and King Ghidorah had cameos in it! Look for Milton Berle, Cassandra Peterson (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), and Dee Snider from Twisted Sister.
Brian Hyland's recording of Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, August 8, 1960. It was his first and only #1 hit. He went on to have more hits over the years, but this one remains his biggest hit. The song was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss.
Explorer 6, launched August 7, 1959 by NASA, took the first photographs of Earth from a satellite. On board it carried a Beacon (108 and 378 MHz) to measure electron density, Fluxgate magnetometer, an ion chamber and Geiger-Muller Counter, a micrometeorite detector, a proportional Counter Telescope, a scintillation counter, search-coil magnetometer, a TV Optical Scanner, and a VLF Receiver.
Explorer 6 operated until October 6, 1959 when the last contact was made with the satellite. It reentered the atmosphere on July 1, 1961.
Jose Hernandez, born August 7, 1962 in French Camp, California, went into space aboard Discovery (STS-128) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in August 2009. He spent almost 14 days in space. He retired from NASA in January 2011. He is one of about 14 Hispanic astronauts who have flown with NASA.
Gregory Chamitoff, born August 6, 1962 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has been in space twice.
His first trip was aboard Discovery (STS-124) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in May 2008. He participated in Expeditions 17 and 18 spending about six months on the space station. He returned to Earth aboard Endeavour (STS-126) in November.
His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-134) to the International Space Station in May-June 2011. He spent almost 16 days in space. It was the last flight of Endeavour.
