April 6-13, 1984. The eleventh US space shuttle mission (41-C)
 is a spectacular success as the defective Solar Maximum Mission
 satellite (Solar Max) is repaired in orbit. After mission special-
 ist George Nelson fails to capture the satellite on his spacewalk,
 Terry J. Hart uses Challenger's remote manipulator arm to catch
 Solar Max on the fly. George Nelson and James D.A. van Hoften repair
 the satellite in the shuttle's payload bay before it is released.
     May 22, 1984. The Chiefs of Staff of the Army and the Air Force
 sign a memorandum of agreement titled "Joint Force Development
 Process," also known as "The 31 Initiatives."
     August 14, 1984. Boeing rolls out the 1,832d and last 727, a
 727-252F freighter for Federal Express. The 727 is the only com-
 mercial transport to exceed the 1,500 mark in aircraft built.
     September 4, 1984. The first production Rockwell B-1B bomber
 is rolled out at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif.
     October 4, 1984. After her pilot-husband dies of a heart attack,
 Elaine Yadwin takes the controls of their Piper Cherokee and manages
 to land at Dade-Collier Airport in south Florida. She is talked
 down by ground controllers.
     October 5-13, 1984. On the thirteenth space shuttle mission,
 Challenger lifts off for the first time with a crew of seven. Mission
 41-G is the first to have two female astronauts (Sally K. Ride and
 Kathryn D. Sullivan, who will become the first American woman to make
 a spacewalk) and the first to have a Canadian astronaut aboard (Marc
 Garneau). Commander Robert L. Crippen becomes the first to fly on
 the shuttle four times. Aloft, the crew refuels a satellite in orbit
 for the first time.
     October 18, 1984. Company pilot M.L. Evenson and USAF Lt. Col.
 L. B. Schroeder make the first flight of the Rockwell B-1B variable-
 geometry bomber at Palmdale, Calif., and land at Edwards AFB, Calif.
 This is the first of 100 aircraft to be built in the revitalized B-1
 bomber program.
     December 14, 1984. Grumman pilot Chuck Sewell makes the first
 flight of the X-29A forward-swept wing demonstrator at Edwards AFB.
 The X-29s, two of the most unusual aircraft ever built, are designed
 to prove the aerodynamic benefits of wings that appear to have been
 put on backwards.
     January 24-27, 1985. The fifteenth space shuttle mission (51-C)
 is the first dedicated Department of Defense flight. The Discovery
 crew of Navy Capt. Thomas K. Mattingly (mission commander), Air Force
 Lt. Col. Loren J. Shriver (pilot), and Air Force mission specialists
 Lt. Col. Ellison S. Onizuka and Maj. Gary E. Payton, along with
 Marine Lt. Col. James F. Buchli, deploy a classified payload, be-
 lieved to be a signals intelligence satellite.
     September 13, 1985. The first test of the LTV-Boeing ASM-135A
 air-launched antisatellite weapon against a target is successfully
 carried out over the Western Missile Test Range. Launched from an
 F-15, the missile destroys a satellite orbiting at a speed of 17,500
 mph approximately 290 miles above Earth.
     October 25-November 2, 1985. USAF units take part in joint oper-
 ations against Cubans and Marxists in Grenada.
     December 9, 1985. Russell A. Rourke becomes Secretary of the Air
 Force.
     December 16, 1985. After twenty years of operation, the Pioneer
 6 satellite becomes the longest-running spacecraft in history. When
 launched in 1965, the solar-orbiting satellite had a life expectancy
 of six months.
     January 28, 1986. The space shuttle Challenger explodes seventy-
 three seconds after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts, including
 schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Others on Mission 51-L included
 Francis R. Scobee, Navy Cmdr. Mike Smith, Judith Resnik, Ronald E.
 McNair, Air Force Lt. Col. Ellison S. Onizuka, and Gregory Jarvis.
 The manned space program will be halted for two years while vehicular
 and management flaws are corrected.
     April 15, 1986. In Operation Eldorado Canyon, eighteen USAF
 F-111s flying from RAF Lakenheath in England, are joined by carrier-
 based Navy aircraft, in air strikes against Libya in response to
 state-sponsored terrorism.
     April 24-May 7, 1986. Veterans of three wars attend the Air
 Force Association's "Gathering of Eagles" in Las Vegas, Nev.
     June 9, 1986. Edward C. Aldridge, Jr., becomes Secretary of the
 Air Force.
     July 1, 1986. Gen. Larry D. Welch becomes Air Force Chief of
 Staff.
     July 1, 1986. CMSgt. James C. Binnicker becomes Chief Master
 Sergeant of the Air Force.
     October 1, 1986. The Goldwater-Nichols Act gives theater comman-
 ders increased control of forces from all services.
     December 23, 1986. Richard Rutan and Jeana Yeager complete the
 first nonstop, unrefueled round-the-world flight in their experimen-
 tal Voyager, starting and stopping at Mojave, Calif. The trip sets
 recognized absolute records for speed around the world, non-stop,
 nonrefueled (115.65 mph); great circle distance without landing; and
 distance in a closed circuit without landing (both 24,986.727 miles).
     July 4, 1987. Lt. Col. Robert Chamberlain (and crew) sets a dozen
 recognized class records for speed with payload (jet aircraft) in a
 Rockwell B-1B at Palmdale, Calif. The brand-new aircraft was on an
 acceptance flight and flew a 500-mile closed course near Vandenberg
 AFB, Calif. The records still stand.
     July 17-31, 1987. Mike Hance becomes the first pilot to consecu-
 tively takoff and land in all fifty states and the District of
 Columbia as he flies his Mooney 252 private plane from Honolulu,
 Hawaii, to Oshkosh, Wis., via the United States--all the rest of
 them.
     September 17, 1987. Maj. Brent A. Hedgpeth (and crew) sets nine
 recognized class records for 5,000-kilometer speed with and without
 payload (jet aircraft) of 655.09 mph in a Rockwell B-1B at Palmdale,
 Calif. The records still stand.
 End of Part-33
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