Astronaut Kathy Sullivan became America’s first woman spacewalker, declaring “this is really great” as she floated outside the space shuttle Challenger with a male colleague to test tools for refueling spent satellites. She was accompanied by David Leestma in the venture. Sullivan was a 33-year-old ocean geologist.

The Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant at DeSoto was officially beginning production after 13 years of inactive status. The plant was to be the only one in the United States producing nitroguanidine, the principal component of triple-base propellant used in many fueling systems. Sunflower had been started in 1941 to serve World War II two needs and had periodically been brought out of mothballs to meet national needs.

The city commission approved a bid of $111,570 for a new front-loading trash truck to replace a 6-year-old vehicle that had become obsolete. George Williams, director of public works, said the savings brought on by the new truck, expensive as it was, could be substantial.