May 24, 1972
1972: President Nixon and USSR Premier Aleksei N. Kosygin in Moscow sign an Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes.
May 21, 1956
956: Operation REDWING (Cherokee test). Over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, Maj David Crichlow flies the B-52 “Barbara Grace” to nearly 50,000 feet and drops an H-bomb, the first U.S. air drop.
May 20, 1927
1927: Charles A. Lindbergh, a Captain in the Missouri National Guard’s 110th Observation Squadron, lands his Ryan Monoplane, the “Spirit of St. Louis,” in Paris on 21 May after the first nonstop solo flight across
May 19, 1967
1967: Douglas Aircraft Company receives a contract to design and build the Manned Orbiting Laboratory.
May 18, 1980
1980: After Mount St. Helens erupts, a C-141 from the 63 MAW, at Norton AFB, CA and a C-130 from the 62 MAW at McChord AFB, WA fly above the stricken area to provide communications
May 17, 1933
1933: The Army’s nonrigid helium coastal patrol airship, the TC-13 (the largest nonrigid airship built for the Air Corps), arrives at Langley Field.
May 14, 1923
1923: The Army accepts the first PW-8 prototype, which evolves into the Curtiss Hawk series of biplane pursuit aircraft. The “W” designates a water-cooled engine.
May 12, 1968
1968: MEDAL OF HONOR. Lt Col Joe M. Jackson volunteers to rescue a three-man Air Force combat control team at Kham Duc. Before the rescue, enemy forces set the camp afire, overrun the forward outpost,
May 11, 1964
1964: Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to fly more than Mach 2 when she flies an F-104G at 1,429 MPH at Edwards AFB.