History of the Delta Launch Vehicle

Delta launch

In 1960, a young NASA launched the first of twelve spacecraft on a small, general-purpose rocket called Delta. Cobbled together from the tested pieces of other, less dependable rockets, Delta was intended as a stopgap until more powerful vehicles could be developed.

For over fifty years, dozens of upgrades, and more than 300 successes, the Delta expendable launch vehicle remained the “magnificent little workhorse” of space. The satellites and space probes it launched have revolutionized several industries and expanded the boundaries of science, and Delta II set a high standard for launch vehicle reliability — upon its last flight in 2018 its record stood at 100 consecutive successes.

This site, the basis for a chapter in the NASA History Office book To Reach the High Frontier, provides:

Fun with Maps

Car 55
It's a hundred and six miles to...
Chicago Filming Locations of The Blues Brothers
The Buildings of Louis H. Sullivan – a complete listing, or as complete as possible given the data (and buildings) lost to destruction.
Chicago's Tied Houses – saloons built before Prohibition and owned by breweries as marketing tools, back when such things were allowed.
Historic sites of East Lansing and MSU – structures on the National and State Registers, and others of local significance.
No. 7

A Brief History of East Lansing, Michigan

A history of Michigan State University
and the college town it engendered

When Michigan governor Kinsley S. Bingham signed Act 130 into law in 1855, establishing the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, he helped to ignite a spark that continues today as a bright torch of higher education.

The location chosen “for the teaching of scientific agriculture” was an undeveloped area of oak groves and tamarack swamps a few miles east of the state capitol in Lansing. Years of hard work — in both student labor and the political struggles of keeping the school intact — transformed the land into a splendid college campus. Soon, an adjacent college town arose and was chartered as the City of East Lansing.

Today, Michigan State University is the eighth-largest university in the United States by enrollment. East Lansing’s population numbers over 45,000, and it has expanded its role from mere faculty and student housing to become a cultural nexus for the mid-Michigan area.

This site contains articles about the conjoined histories of East Lansing and Michigan State University, with a particular interest in the Michigan Agricultural College era (1855–1925), and a timeline of significant events.

Recent updates to kevinforsyth.net:

23-Sep-24 The Michigan State Bank at East Lansing was founded in 1927 to compete with the established East Lansing State Bank. It lasted barely four years.

7-Aug-24 Shortly after the interurban railway reached Owosso from Lansing, one landowner attempted to block its path. The case, Charles H. Chase versus the Michigan United Railway Company, went all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court.

15-Jul-24 Ella Gale Kedzie is almost completely forgotten today, but she was a positively influential part of the M.A.C. community for decades. A new article about the other Mrs. Kedzie.

29-Jun-24 Sarcastic Lad was a wildely famous and popular bull in his day, but does his bloodline continue? Here is a surprising answer to the state of Sarcastic Lad’s progeny today.