The shuttle Columbia (STS-107) disintegrates during re-entry, killing all 7 aboard.
1 year ago, in 2017:
The New Horizons probe performs an engine burn in preparation of the eventual flyby of 2014 MU69.
2
54 years ago, in 1964:
Ranger 6 lands on the moon, but its TV camera fails.
3
WANING GIBBOUS
52 years ago, in 1966:
Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to land on the Moon.
48 years ago, in 1970:
SERT-II is launched for a 6 month test of a mercury ion thruster engine.
41 years ago, in 1977:
The Salyut 4 space station burns up in Earth's atmosphere after 770 days in orbit.
24 years ago, in 1994:
The Clementine lunar probe leaves Earth orbit.
12 years ago, in 2006:
SuitSat-1 is deployed from the ISS.
8 years ago, in 2010:
NASA extends the Cassini mission at Saturn to 2017.
4
57 years ago, in 1961:
Venera 1VA is launched to Venus, first ever planetary mission, but fails to leave Earth orbit.
56 years ago, in 1962:
Comet Seki-Lines (C/1962 C1, Great Comet of 1962) is discovered independently by Tsutomu Seki and Richard Lines.
52 years ago, in 1966:
Luna 9 sends the first pictures from the lunar surface, which are intercepted and published by the British.
5
175 years ago, in 1843:
The Great Comet of 1843 is first observed.
51 years ago, in 1967:
Lunar Orbiter 3 is launched to photograph the future Apollo and Surveyor landing sites.
47 years ago, in 1971:
Apollo 14 lands on the moon.
44 years ago, in 1974:
Mariner 10 flies by Venus, becomes the first spacecraft to use gravity assist, next stop: Mercury.
24 years ago, in 1994:
The Clementine lunar probe makes its first Earth flyby.
6
52 years ago, in 1966:
The Soviet Proton-2 satellite, designed for the study of high and ultra-high energy particles, ends its mission.
40 years ago, in 1978:
Progress 1 undocks from the Salyut 6 space station.
14 years ago, in 2004:
The Beagle 2 lander is declared lost.
This year:
SpaceX launches the Falcon Heavy on its maiden flight with the payload of Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster, and two of three boosters land successfully.
7
LAST QUARTER
41 years ago, in 1977:
Soyuz 24 is launched to the Salyut 5 space station.
34 years ago, in 1984:
Aboard shuttle Challenger (STS-41-B), Bruce McCandless takes the first untethered space walk using the new Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
19 years ago, in 1999:
Stardust is launched to Comet Wild 2 to capture comet dust and pre-solar interstellar materials to be returned to Earth.
17 years ago, in 2001:
The Destiny Laboratory Module is launched to the ISS aboard the shuttle Atlantis (STS-98).
10 years ago, in 2008:
The shuttle Atlantis (STS-122) is launched to the ISS with the ESA's Columbus science laboratory.
6 years ago, in 2012:
After almost nine years of operation, NASA places the GALEX ultraviolet space telescope in standby mode.
8
51 years ago, in 1967:
Lunar Orbiter 3 goes into orbit around the Moon.
44 years ago, in 1974:
After just over 84 days in orbit, the crew of Skylab 4 return to Earth.
40 years ago, in 1978:
Progress 1 enters Earth's atmosphere and burns up.
33 years ago, in 1985:
The first Brazilian satellite, Brasilsat A1, is successfully launched.
26 years ago, in 1992:
The Ulysses spacecraft arrives at Jupiter for a swing-by maneuver to position itself for orbit above the Sun's poles.
8 years ago, in 2010:
The shuttle Endeavour (STS-130) is launched to the ISS with the Tranquility module and the Cupola robotic control station.
9
47 years ago, in 1971:
Apollo 14 splashdown.
43 years ago, in 1975:
After 29 days, Soyuz 17 leaves the Salyut 4 space station and lands on Earth.
3 years ago, in 2015:
Orbital Sciences merges with Alliant Techsystems to become a new company called Orbital ATK, Inc.
10
84 years ago, in 1934:
4179 Toutatis is first sighted as object 1934 CT, but is lost soon after.
44 years ago, in 1974:
Mars 4 reaches Mars, but its retro-rockets fail and it flies by the planet instead of going into orbit.
28 years ago, in 1990:
The Galileo probe flies past Venus for a gravity assist to Jupiter.
17 years ago, in 2001:
The Destiny Laboratory Module is attached to the ISS with the Canadarm.
9 years ago, in 2009:
Two satellites collide in orbit for the first time, Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251.
11
WANING CRESCENT
48 years ago, in 1970:
Osumi (or Ohsumi), the first Japanese satellite, is launched.
21 years ago, in 1997:
Servicing Mission 2 is launched aboard shuttle Discovery (STS-82) to extend Hubble's wavelength range to near infrared.
8 years ago, in 2010:
The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is launched to study the solar atmosphere and magnetic field.
5 years ago, in 2013:
Landsat 8 is launched.
3 years ago, in 2015:
The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) space weather satellite is launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
12
71 years ago, in 1947:
An approximately 100-ton meteorite explodes and impacts in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, USSR.
57 years ago, in 1961:
Venera 1 is launched for Venus, but communications fail before arrival.
44 years ago, in 1974:
Mars 5 reaches Mars and takes photos for 22 orbits until a transmitter flaw ends the mission.
19 years ago, in 1999:
The ROSAT X-ray satellite is shut down.
17 years ago, in 2001:
The NEAR Shoemaker probe lands on asteroid Eros.
13
6 years ago, in 2012:
MaSat-1, the first Hungarian satellite (designed and built in Hungary), is successfully launched.
6 years ago, in 2012:
The first Polish satellite, PW-Sat, is successfully launched.
6 years ago, in 2012:
The first Romanian satellite, Goliat, is successfully launched.
6 years ago, in 2012:
The Vega rocket, used by Arianespace, makes its maiden flight, carrying and deploying MaSat-1, PW-Sat, Goliat, and others.
14
55 years ago, in 1963:
Syncom 1 is launched to be the first geosynchronous communications satellite, but fails before reaching orbit.
46 years ago, in 1972:
Luna 20 (USSR) is launched to the Moon; the eighth Soviet attempt to bring back soil from the surface.
38 years ago, in 1980:
The Solar Maximum Mission satellite (SolarMax) is launched to study the Sun.
29 years ago, in 1989:
The Delta II 6000 makes its maiden flight, launching the first modern Block-II satellite, USA-35, for the Global Positioning System.
28 years ago, in 1990:
Voyager 1 is turned around to take the Solar System Portrait (Portrait of the Planets), 4 billion miles from the Sun.
18 years ago, in 2000:
The NEAR Shoemaker probe arrives at the asteroid Eros.
17 years ago, in 2001:
Thomas Jones and Robert Curbeam Jr. perform the 100th space walk in the United States space program.
7 years ago, in 2011:
Stardust/NExT flies by Comet Tempel 1 and sends back images.
15
NEW MOON
454 years ago, in 1564:
Galileo Galilei is born in Pisa, Duchy of Florence, Italy.
173 years ago, in 1845:
The 72-inch Rosse (Leviathan of Parsonstown) Telescope sees "first light".
45 years ago, in 1973:
Pioneer 10 becomes the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt.
25 years ago, in 1993:
The Japanese Hiten moon probe is placed into permanent lunar orbit.
24 years ago, in 1994:
The Clementine lunar probe makes its second Earth flyby.
5 years ago, in 2013:
A near-Earth asteroid explodes in an air burst over Chelyabinsk, Russia.
16
70 years ago, in 1948:
Gerard Kuiper discovers one of Uranus' moons, Miranda.
42 years ago, in 1976:
After 90 days, Soyuz 20 leaves the Salyut 4 space station and lands on Earth.
17
59 years ago, in 1959:
NASA launches the first weather satellite, Vanguard 2.
53 years ago, in 1965:
Ranger 8 is launched to the moon.
22 years ago, in 1996:
NASA launches the NEAR Shoemaker probe to study near-Earth asteroid Eros.
20 years ago, in 1998:
Pioneer 10 and Voyager 1 are the same distance away from the Sun, 69.4 AU (6.45 billion miles).
9 years ago, in 2009:
Dawn receives a gravity assist from Mars on its way to the asteroid Vesta.
2 years ago, in 2016:
The Japanese X-ray Astronomy satellite Hitomi is launched from the Tanegashima Space Center.
18
88 years ago, in 1930:
Clyde W. Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
46 years ago, in 1972:
Luna 20 (USSR) goes into orbit around the Moon.
41 years ago, in 1977:
The shuttle Enterprise makes its first captive flight atop a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
12 years ago, in 2006:
SuitSat-1 sends its last confirmed signal.
19
WAXING CRESCENT
545 years ago, in 1473:
Nicolaus Copernicus is born in Thorn, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland.
231 years ago, in 1787:
William Herschel's 40-foot (Great Forty-Foot) Telescope sees "first light".
32 years ago, in 1986:
The Mir Core Module is launched; first part of the new Russian space station.
24 years ago, in 1994:
The Clementine lunar probe enters the Moons orbit.
20
71 years ago, in 1947:
A U.S. launched V-2 rocket sends the first animals (fruit flies) into space, which are successfully recovered.
56 years ago, in 1962:
Three-orbit flight that placed the first American into earth orbit, John H. Glenn, Jr. (Mercury/Friendship 7).
53 years ago, in 1965:
Ranger 8 sends back 7,137 hi-res pictures before crashing into the lunar surface.
41 years ago, in 1977:
The Viking 1 orbiter flies by one of Mars' moons, Phobos, with the closest approach being 55 miles (89km).
19 years ago, in 1999:
On board the Soyuz TM-29 mission to Mir, Ivan Bella becomes the first Slovak citizen to visit space.
17 years ago, in 2001:
Odin, a Swedish satellite, is launched to study both star formation and the depletion of ozone in Earth's atmosphere.
21
55 years ago, in 1963:
Telstar 1 goes out of service, mostly due to radiation from high-altitude nuclear bomb testing.
46 years ago, in 1972:
Luna 20 (USSR) lands on the Moon's highlands, and successfully collects a soil sample.
12 years ago, in 2006:
Japan's Akari (ASTRO-F), an infrared astronomy satellite, is launched to study the entire sky in near, mid, and far-infrared.
22
52 years ago, in 1966:
The Soviet dogs Veterok and Ugolyok are launched on board Cosmos 110, and spend 22 days in orbit.
46 years ago, in 1972:
Luna 20's ascent stage lifts off from the Moon, and heads to Earth with its soil sample.
32 years ago, in 1986:
Sweden successfully launches its first satellite, Viking.
27 years ago, in 1991:
The Japanese probe Suisei runs out of propellant.
23
FIRST QUARTER
28 years ago, in 1990:
Pioneer 11 becomes the fourth man-made object to pass beyond the orbit of all the planets.
19 years ago, in 1999:
SUNSAT, the first miniaturized satellite designed and manufactured in South Africa, is successfully launched.
19 years ago, in 1999:
Denmark's first successful satellite, Orsted, is launched.
24
69 years ago, in 1949:
A WAC Corporal with a V-2 first stage is flown at 5150 mph (8290 kph); first flight of over five times the speed of sound.
31 years ago, in 1987:
Supernova SN 1987A is discovered.
7 years ago, in 2011:
The 39th and final flight of Discovery (STS-133) launches to the ISS with the Permanent Multipurpose Module, Leonardo, and the third of four ExPRESS Logistics Carriers.
25
49 years ago, in 1969:
Mariner 6 is launched to Mars.
46 years ago, in 1972:
Luna 20 successfully returns the capsule with the lunar soil sample to Earth.
41 years ago, in 1977:
After 18 days, Soyuz 24 leaves the Salyut 5 space station and lands on Earth.
36 years ago, in 1982:
Landsat 2 ceases operations.
11 years ago, in 2007:
The Rosetta probe flies by Mars, returning detailed images.
5 years ago, in 2013:
UniBRITE-1 and TUGSAT-1 become the first two Austrian satellites to be launched.
26
WAXING GIBBOUS
402 years ago, in 1616:
Galileo Galilei is ordered by the Inquisition to abandon the Copernican theories.
235 years ago, in 1783:
NGC 2360 (Caroline's Cluster), an open cluster in the constellation Canis Major, is discovered by Caroline Herschel.
24 years ago, in 1994:
The Clementine lunar probe begins systematic mapping of the Southern hemisphere of the Moon.
27
175 years ago, in 1843:
The Great Comet of 1843 makes a very close perihelion of less than 515,000 miles (830,000 km).
28
462 years ago, in 1556:
The German astronomer Joachim Heller discovers the Great Comet of 1556 (C/1556 D1).
11 years ago, in 2007:
New Horizons makes a pass by Jupiter for a gravity assist to Pluto.
4 years ago, in 2014:
After over a month in storage on board the ISS, Lituanica SAT-1 and LitSat-1, the two first Lithuanian satellites, are successfully deployed.
It's been 1012 days
