NASA Astronaut Group 2 was the second group of astronauts selected by NASA; their names were announced on September 17, 1962. President Kennedy had announced Project Apollo, with the goal of putting a man on the Moon by the end of the decade, and more astronauts were required to fly the two-person Gemini spacecraft and three-person Apollo spacecraft then under development. The Mercury Seven had been selected for the simpler task of orbital flight, but the challenges of space rendezvous and lunar landing led to the selection of candidates with advanced engineering degrees (for four of the nine) as well as test pilot experience. The nine were Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Jim Lovell, James McDivitt, Elliot See, Tom Stafford, Ed White and John Young. Six of the nine flew to the Moon (Lovell and Young twice), and Armstrong, Conrad and Young walked on it as well. Seven of the nine were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. (This article is part of a featured topic: NASA Astronaut Group 2.).
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/NASA_Astronaut_Group_2
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army under Richard Montgomery began the Siege of Fort St. Jean in the British province of Quebec. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_St._Jean
1939:
World War II: The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, sixteen days after Nazi Germany's attack on the country from the west. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Poland
1958:
Tintin in Tibet, the twentieth volume of The Adventures of Tintin by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé and which he regarded as his favourite in the series, began serialisation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_in_Tibet
1970:
The Jordanian army entered Amman as part of operations to oust Palestinian fedayeen from the country in events later known as Black September (smoke over city pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_September
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
true blue: 1. Steadfastly faithful or loyal; unwavering in loyalty; staunch, true. 2. (specifically) 3. Patriotic. 4. (Britain) Of or pertaining to the (historical) Tory, and now the Conservative, political party; hence, steadfastly conservative. 5. (Scotland, historical) Of or pertaining to the Scottish Presbyterian or Whig political party in the 17th century; hence, steadfastly Presbyterian. 6. Representing the true essence of something; authentic, genuine, honest. 7. (specifically, Australia, informal) Representing authentic Australian culture, values, etc. 8. (Britain) Aristocratic by birth. [...] 9. (countable) A faithful partisan or supporter of a cause, person, political party, etc. 10. (uncountable, historical) A blue dye from Coventry, England, famous for not washing out. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/true_blue
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Man will not always stay on earth; the pursuit of light and space will lead him to penetrate the bounds of the atmosphere, timidly at first, but in the end to conquer the whole of solar space. --Konstantin Tsiolkovsky https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Konstantin_Tsiolkovsky