Ranger 6 lands on the Moon, but its TV camera fails.
3
2 years ago, in 1963:
Luna E-6 No.3 (Luna 1963B) is launched to perform a soft landing on the Moon, but fails to reach orbit and reenters the atmosphere.
This year:
OSO-B2 (Orbiting Solar Observatory) is successfully launched into orbit.
4
4 years ago, in 1961:
Venera 1VA is launched to Venus, first ever planetary mission, but fails to leave Earth orbit.
3 years ago, in 1962:
Comet Seki-Lines (C/1962 C1, Great Comet of 1962) is discovered independently by Tsutomu Seki and Richard Lines.
5
122 years ago, in 1843:
The Great Comet of 1843 is first observed.
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52 years ago, in 1913:
Several hundred meteors are seen streaming across the sky from Saskatchewan to Bermuda.
10
31 years ago, in 1934:
4179 Toutatis is first sighted as object 1934 CT, but is lost soon after.
11
165 years ago, in 1800:
While testing filters for observing the Sun, William Herschel discovers infrared radiation in sunlight.
12
18 years ago, in 1947:
An approximately 100-ton meteorite explodes and impacts in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, USSR.
4 years ago, in 1961:
Venera 1 is launched for Venus, but communications fail before arrival.
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14
2 years ago, in 1963:
Syncom 1 is launched to be the first geosynchronous communications satellite, but fails before reaching orbit.
15
401 years ago, in 1564:
Galileo Galilei is born in Pisa, Duchy of Florence, Italy.
120 years ago, in 1845:
The 72-inch Rosse (Leviathan of Parsonstown) Telescope sees "first light".
16
17 years ago, in 1948:
Gerard Kuiper discovers one of Uranus' moons, Miranda.
4 years ago, in 1961:
Explorer 9, a balloon satellite for air density research, is launched, becoming the first spacecraft launched from Wallops Island to achieve orbit.
This year:
AS-103 (SA-9), is successfully launched, carrying the third 'boilerplate' version of the Apollo spacecraft and the first Pegasus micrometeroid detection satellite.
17
6 years ago, in 1959:
NASA launches the first weather satellite, Vanguard 2.
This year:
Ranger 8 is launched to the Moon.
18
35 years ago, in 1930:
Clyde W. Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
19
492 years ago, in 1473:
Nicolaus Copernicus is born in Thorn, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland.
178 years ago, in 1787:
William Herschel's 40-foot (Great Forty-Foot) Telescope sees "first light".
1 year ago, in 1964:
Zond 3MV-1 No.2 (Venera 1964A) is launched for Venus, but the third stage explodes.
1 year ago, in 1964:
The Soviet Molniya-M medium carrier rocket is launched on its maiden flight.
20
18 years ago, in 1947:
A U.S. launched V-2 rocket sends the first animals (fruit flies) into space, which are successfully recovered.
3 years ago, in 1962:
Three-orbit flight that placed the first American into earth orbit, John H. Glenn, Jr. (Mercury/Friendship 7).
2 years ago, in 1963:
The Friendship 7 spacecraft is formally presented to the National Air Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.
This year:
Ranger 8 sends back 7,137 hi-res pictures before crashing into the lunar surface.
21
2 years ago, in 1963:
Telstar 1 goes out of service, mostly due to radiation from high-altitude nuclear bomb testing.
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16 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.
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349 years ago, in 1616:
Galileo Galilei is ordered by the Inquisition to abandon the Copernican theories.
182 years ago, in 1783:
NGC 2360 (Caroline's Cluster), an open cluster in the constellation Canis Major, is discovered by Caroline Herschel.
27
122 years ago, in 1843:
The Great Comet of 1843 makes a very close perihelion of less than 515,000 miles (830,000 km).
23 years ago, in 1942:
James Stanley Hey accidentaly discovers radio emmissions coming from the Sun.
4 years ago, in 1961:
The Soviet R-7 Semyorka ICBM makes its final flight.
28
409 years ago, in 1556:
The German astronomer Joachim Heller discovers the Great Comet of 1556 (C/1556 D1).
6 years ago, in 1959:
Discoverer 1, a US Air Force reconnaissance satellite, is the first satellite launched toward the South Pole in an effort to enter polar orbit, but is unsuccessful.
It's been 3964 days
