Plenty of Nothing

Space 1959: Luna 3

On October 7, 1959, the Soviet space probe Luna 3 took the first pictures of the far side of the moon. This view is actually of the east side of the moon. That's Mare Moscoviense in the upper right. Compare.

Space 1959: Big Joe 1

Big Joe 1, the first Project Mercury spacecraft to cross the Karman Line (100 km) into space, and the first to ride an Atlas rocket, was launched on this day in 1959. The purpose of the flight was to test the capsule's heat shield, but it almost didn't come off, because the capsule almost didn't come off the rocket. Flight control had to fire the capsule's manoevring thrusters to yank it free of the rocket stage after the explosive bolts failed. Overall the Atlas didn't cover itself with glory, and it wasn't until 1962 that NASA dared put an astronaut atop one. The heat shield worked, though, and the capsule is now in the National Air and Space Museum.

Serfs Emancipation Day

On this day in 1959 the government of the People's Republic of China abolished the Tibetan government of the Dalai Lama. Since 2009 this anniversary has been an official holiday called Serfs Emancipation Day. Source.

Greenock in 1959

These grainy images seem to come from a time much more distant than only half a century ago. To see them in live action, view William Braid's movie here.

The Manitobans Reached Space in 1959

Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg have been constructing versions of their reliable Black Brant rocket since 1959 and are presently up to the Black Brant XII.  NASA fires off about a dozen of the suborbital sounding rockets per year from Wallops Island, White Sands, Poker Flats in Alaska, or Andoya in northern Norway, oftentimes with the Black Brant as part of a three or four stage launch vehicle.  In September 1959 the Canadian Armament Research and Development Establishment began to test the Black Brant at Fort Churchill, Manitoba, on Hudson Bay, and quickly exceeded an altitude of 100 km, the unofficial edge of space.  Hence the shock in 1989 when the headquarters of the new Canadian Space Agency was placed in Montreal.

Mcleodganj

Since 1959 the residence of the exiled Dalai Lama has been at a place named Mcleodganj in Himalayan India.  The town started out as a hill station in the days of the British Raj and takes its name from David McLeod, Lieutenant Governor of Punjab. I'd like to hear how the locals pronounce it.  Douglas

[Correction: Donald Friell McLeod.] [Raja of Beg Borrow Steal pronounces it McClodganj at 0:45 in this video segment.]