The Soviet Mars 1 (2MV-4 No.2) is launched, though communication is lost before the craft passes Mars.
2 years ago, in 1963:
The Soviet Polyot, an orbital carrier rocket, makes its first of two flights to test ASAT (Anti-satellite) spacecraft.
2
388 years ago, in 1577:
Peruvian observers are the first to view the Great Comet of 1577 (C/1577 V1).
48 years ago, in 1917:
The 100-inch Hooker Telescope sees "first light".
This year:
The Soviet Proton-2 satellite is launched for the study of high and ultra-high energy particles.
3
8 years ago, in 1957:
The Soviets launch Sputnik 2, with the first dog in orbit, Laika (Barker).
5 years ago, in 1960:
Explorer 8 is launched and confirms the existence of a helium layer in the upper atmosphere.
4
3 years ago, in 1962:
Mars 2MV-3 No.1 (Sputnik 24) is launched by the Soviet Union, but a problem with the rocket causes it to be stranded in low Earth orbit.
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1 year ago, in 1964:
Mariner 3 is launched for Mars, but its solar panels fail to deploy, and the mission is terminated.
6
1 year ago, in 1964:
Explorer 23, the third and last in the series of S 55 micrometeoroid satellites, is launched.
This year:
GEOS-1 (Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite); also known as GEOS-A & Explorer 29, is successfully launched for geodetic studies of the Earth.
7
This year:
After a successful one year mission, last contact is made with Explorer 23.
8
7 years ago, in 1958:
Able 3 (Pioneer 2) is launched for lunar orbit, but a booster malfunction causes it to get stranded in Earth orbit.
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393 years ago, in 1572:
Tycho Brahe observes supernova SN 1572 in the constellation of Cassiopeia.
30 years ago, in 1935:
Explorer II, a U.S. high-altitude balloon with a two-man crew, reaches a record altitude of 72,395 ft (22,066 m).
2 years ago, in 1963:
Cosmos 21 (Kosmos 21), a possible test of the Venera series space probes, is launched but never leaves Earth orbit.
12
80 years ago, in 1885:
253 Mathilde, a minor planet in the intermediate asteroid belt, is discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at the Vienna Observatory.
13
388 years ago, in 1577:
Tycho Brahe observes the Great Comet of 1577 (C/1577 V1) in the evening sky.
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285 years ago, in 1680:
The German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680 (C/1680 V1, Kirch's Comet, Newton's Comet), the first comet discovered by a telescope.
15
113 years ago, in 1852:
21 Lutetia, a large asteroid in the main asteroid belt, is discovered by Hermann Goldschmidt from the balcony of his apartment in Paris.
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2 years ago, in 1963:
The Soviet Voskhod carrier rocket is launched on its maiden flight.
This year:
Venera 3 is launched for Venus.
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4 years ago, in 1961:
Explorer 11 ceases returning data due to power supply problems.
18
132 years ago, in 1833:
The annual Leonid showers peaks at approximately 14,000 meteors an hour; the night “the stars fell on Alabama”.
4 years ago, in 1961:
Ranger 2 is launched to be placed in an eliptical orbit around the Moon, but burns up in low orbit one day later.
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60 years ago, in 1905:
The Annus mirabilis papers, Einstein's work on Mass–energy equivalence and other topics, are published in the Annalen der Physik scientific journal.
22
2 years ago, in 1963:
Relay 1 becomes the first satellite to broadcast from the United States to Japan; the announcement of the assasination of JFK.
23
This year:
Cosmos 96 (Kosmos 96) is launched to make a flyby of Venus, but fails to leave low Earth orbit.
This year:
Venera 1965A suffers a launch failure, ending its planned flyby of Venus.
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175 years ago, in 1790:
William Herschel discovers NGC 13, a spiral galaxy in the Andromeda constellation.
7 years ago, in 1958:
The U.S. manned satellite program is officially designated Project Mercury.
6 years ago, in 1959:
Pioneer P-3 (Atlas-Able 4, Pioneer X) is launched for a lunar orbit, but the mission fails due to the payload fairing breaking off.
This year:
France launches its first satellite, Asterix, which remains active for two days.
27
2 years ago, in 1963:
Explorer 18, the first satellite of the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform, is launched to study energetic particles, cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and plasmas.
1 year ago, in 1964:
Explorer 21, the second satellite of the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform, is launched to study energetic particles, cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and plasmas.
28
1 year ago, in 1964:
Mariner 4 is launched to Mars.
29
222 years ago, in 1743:
Jan de Munck of Middelburg, Netherlands, discovers the Great Comet of 1744 (C/1743 X1).
4 years ago, in 1961:
Enos, aboard Mercury-Atlas 5, becomes the first chimpanzee to orbit the Earth, and does it twice.
2 years ago, in 1963:
The NASA Launch Operations Center (LOC) at Cape Canaveral is renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center.
This year:
Alouette 2 (ISIS-X), a Canadian ionosphere research satellite, is launched.
It's been 3963 days
