Georgi Ivanov, born July 2, 1940, is the first Bulgarian cosmonaut. Born in Lovech, Bulgaria, Ivanov flew on Soyuz 33, launched April 10, 1979 but the mission was a disaster Engine damage would not allow them to dock with Salyut 6, so they had to return to Earth prematurely. Their re-entry was also flawed as they had to endure 9Gs. They completed 31 orbits in just under 2 days.
One of the funniest movies of all time and probably the best satirical film ever, Airplane! was released July 2, 1980. Originally I thought it was a spoof of all the airplane disaster movies, but it is a scene-by-scene parody of the movie Zero Hour starring Dana Andrews.
Kalpana Chawla, born July 1, 1961 in India, was the first Indian woman astronaut. She
flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist. She also served as the primary robotic arm operator.
Her second voyage, also on the Columbia, ended in disaster as the shuttle disintegrated upon re-entry February 1, 2003.
Dr. Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. was the first black astronaut, June 30, 1967 when he was selected by the US Air Force in their Manned Orbital Laboratory program. This makes him the first black astronaut although he never made it to space. Later that same year, Dr. Lawrence was killed when the F-104 Starfighter, whose pilot he was instructing crashed at Edwards AFB in California, December 8.
According to a Cuneiform clay tablet known as the "Planisphere", an asteroid struck Kofels, Austria June 29, 3123 BC. The tablet was discovered approximately 150 years ago and finally, researchers have managed to decode its information. It is a copy of a Sumerian astronomer's night diary and contains drawings of known constellations.
The amount of destruction and the timing of the catastrophe may account for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It came in a very low angle, approximately 6° and clipped the mountain Gamskogel, which caused it to explode. Therefore, there is no impact crater but it did cause an enormous landslide.
The "back plume" would have bent over the Mediterranean Sea, re-entering the atmosphere over Sinai and Northern Egypt. This would have cuased any flammable material, including human hair and clothing to ignite.
Of course, nothing has been proven but the Biblical passage of raining sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah fits nicely with the asteroid theory.
June 27, 1978, Miroslaw Hermaszewski became the first Polish national in space, when he took off in Soyuz 30 with Commander Pyotr Klimuk. The Soyuz 30 crew docked with the space station Salyut 6 and spent almost 8 days conducting experiements with the Soyuz 29 crew. Hermaszewski and Klimuk returned to Earth July 5.
Astronaut Bernard Harris, born June 26, 1956 in Temple, Texas, became the first black astronaut to perform an EVA. His first mission was STS-55, in April 1993 on board the Space Shuttle Columbia where he was a payload specialist. His second flight was STS-63 in February 1995 aboard Discovery, the first mission of the US/Russia Shuttle/Mir program. Harris performed an EVA with Michael Foale, who performed the first EVA for a British astronaut. It was also the first time a Shuttle was piloted by a female, Eileen Collins.
