1935 Indianapolis 500

The 23rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 30, 1935. Despite attempts to improve participant safety by requiring crash helmets and installing green and yellow lights around the track, the event that year would prove to be one of the worst in terms of fatalities.

Kelly Petillo won the race, accompanied by riding mechanic Jimmy Dunham. Pete DePaolo, the 1925 winner, was the team principal, becoming the first individual to win the race separately as a driver and an owner.

The race was part of the 1935 AAA Championship Car season.

Pre-race and qualifying

Ten-lap (25 mile) qualifying runs were utilized.

On May 21, nine days before the race, three prospective participants lost their lives. Rookie Johnny Hannon, on just his first lap at racing speed, had his car go over the outside retaining wall and was killed from a fractured skull. Later that day, driver Hartford "Stubby" Stubblefield also had his car go over the outside wall, and both he and his riding mechanic Leo Whittaker died from injuries they received being thrown from the vehicle.Kelly Petillo, the eventual winner, had his own difficulties getting into the field. His initial qualifying run (a record-breaking 121.687 miles per hour (195.836 km/h) was voided when his car was ruled to have exceeded the fuel limit. Returning to the track, he had an engine blow, before finally having a qualifying run of 115.095 that placed him 22nd in the field.

1978 Indianapolis 500

The 62nd International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, 1978. Danny Ongais dominated the early stages of the race but eventually dropped out with a blown engine. Al Unser, Sr. dominated the second half, and held a large lead late in the race. However, Unser bent his Lola's front wing during a pit stop on lap 180, causing his handling to go away over the final 20 laps. Second place Tom Sneva charged to catch the crippled Lola but came up 8 seconds short at the finish - the second-closest finish in Indy history to that point. Unser held off the challenge, and became a three-time winner of the 500.

Al Unser, Sr. entered the month having won the 1977 California 500 at Ontario the previous September. Later in the 1978 season, Unser would go on to win the Pocono 500 and the California 500, sweeping the "triple crown" of Indy car racing. As of 2014, he is the only driver in history to do so in the same season, and coupled with the win at Ontario in 1977, set a record by winning four straight 500-mile Indy car races.

1938 Indianapolis 500

The 26th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1938. The race was won by the number 23 car driven by Floyd Roberts. Roberts' car started in the pole position, and was the first car to win from that start since 1930. Roberts led 92 laps, posted an average speed of 117.200 miles per hours, and won $32,075. Roberts' car was owned by Lou Moore, who was also the chief mechanic. The race was marred by the death of 33-year-old spectator Everett Spence. On lap 45 the number 42 car driven by Emil Andres hit the wall in turn two, then flipped over several times, causing its right front wheel to fly off. The wheel traveled 100 feet (30 m) through the air and hit Spence, who was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital. Andres suffered a concussion, broken nose, and chest injuries.

For 1938, riding mechanics were made optional; however, no teams utilized them in the race.

Time trials

Ten-lap (25 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. This would be the final time this distance was used. Floyd Roberts won the pole position.

USA (disambiguation)

USA or U.S.A. usually refers to the United States of America, a country in North America.

USA or U.S.A. may also refer to:

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USA-212

USA-212 was the first flight of the Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 1 (X-37B OTV-1), an American unmanned robotic vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing (VTHL) spaceplane. It was launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral on 22 April 2010, and operated in low Earth orbit. Its designation is part of the USA series.

The spaceplane is operated by the United States Air Force, which has not revealed the specific identity of the spaceship's payload for the mission. The Air Force has stated only that the spacecraft would "demonstrate various experiments and allow satellite sensors, subsystems, components, and associated technology to be transported into space and back."

Launch

USA-212 was launched on an Atlas V 501 rocket, tail number AV-012, from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch, which was conducted by United Launch Alliance, occurred at 23:52 UTC on 22 April 2010, placing the spacecraft into low Earth orbit for testing.

The X-37B spacecraft was originally intended to be deployed from the payload bay of a NASA Space Shuttle, but following the Columbia accident, it was transferred to a Delta II 7920. It was subsequently transferred to the Atlas V following concerns over the X-37B's aerodynamic properties during launch.

USA-135

USA-135, also known as GPS IIA-19, GPS II-28 and GPS SVN-38, is an American navigation satellite which forms part of the Global Positioning System. It was the last of nineteen Block IIA GPS satellites to be launched.

USA-135 was launched at 00:30:00 UTC on 6 November 1997, atop a Delta II carrier rocket, flight number D249, flying in the 7925-9.5 configuration. The launch took place from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and placed USA-135 into a transfer orbit. The satellite raised itself into medium Earth orbit using a Star-37XFP apogee motor.

On 13 December 1997, USA-135 was in an orbit with a perigee of 19,912 kilometres (12,373 mi), an apogee of 20,449 kilometres (12,706 mi), a period of 717.9 minutes, and 54.9 degrees of inclination to the equator. It broadcasts the PRN 08 signal, and operates in slot 3 of plane A of the GPS constellation. The satellite has a mass of 1,816 kilograms (4,004 lb). It had a design life of 7.5 years, but it actually remained in service until October 30, 2014.