The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) is formed.
3 years ago, in 1959:
Pioneer 4 is launched for a lunar flyby, becomes the first U.S. probe to escape Earth's gravity.
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287 years ago, in 1675:
John Flamsteed is appointed as the first Astronomer Royal; The King's Astronomical Observator.
3 years ago, in 1959:
Pioneer 4 flies by the Moon, but doesn't come close enough to the Moon to trigger its camera.
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71 years ago, in 1891:
307 Nike, a minor planet in the asteroid belt, is discovered by Auguste Charlois at the Nice Observatory.
4 years ago, in 1958:
Explorer 2 is launched, but a failure in the rocket's fourth stage prevents it from reaching orbit.
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147 years ago, in 1815:
Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers of Germany discovers a periodic comet, 13P/Olbers.
3 years ago, in 1959:
Last contact is made with Pioneer 4.
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This year:
The first Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO-1, OSO-A) is launched to measure the solar electromagnetic radiation in the UV, X-ray, and gamma-ray regions.
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104 years ago, in 1858:
Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke 'rediscovers' comet 7P/Pons–Winnecke.
28 years ago, in 1934:
Yuri Gagarin is born in Klushino, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.
1 year ago, in 1961:
The Soviet dog Chernushka makes one orbit on board Korabl-Sputnik-4 or Vostok-3KA No 1 (Sputnik 9) with a cosmonaut dummy, mice and a guinea pig.
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2 years ago, in 1960:
Able 6 (Pioneer 5) is launched for a heliocentric orbit between Earth and Venus, and confirms the interplanetary magnetic field.
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181 years ago, in 1781:
William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus; first planet discovered through a telescope.
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83 years ago, in 1879:
Albert Einstein is born in Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg, in the German Empire.
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36 years ago, in 1926:
Robert H. Goddard launches the first ever liquid fueled rocket.
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110 years ago, in 1852:
16 Psyche, one of the ten most massive objects in the asteroid belt, is discovered by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis from Naples.
63 years ago, in 1899:
Phoebe, a moon of Saturn, is the first moon to be discovered photographically (William Pickering).
4 years ago, in 1958:
Vanguard 1, the first solar powered satellite, is launched and reaches orbit.
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181 years ago, in 1781:
M96 (NGC 3368), an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo, is discovered by Pierre Méchain.
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278 years ago, in 1684:
Giovanni Cassini discovers one of Saturn's moons, Tethys.
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122 years ago, in 1840:
John William Draper takes the first successful photograph (Daguerreotype process) of the Moon.
20 years ago, in 1942:
5535 Annefrank, a minor planet in the inner asteroid belt, is discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory.
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181 years ago, in 1781:
M105 (NGC 3379), an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Leo, is discovered by Pierre Méchain.
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307 years ago, in 1655:
Christiaan Huygens discovers Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
151 years ago, in 1811:
The French astronomer Honore Flaugergues discovers the Great Comet of 1811 (C/1811 F1), visible to the naked eye for about 260 days.
1 year ago, in 1961:
The Soviet dog Zvyozdochka makes one orbit on board Korabl-Sputnik 5 or Vostok-3KA No 2 (Sputnik 10) with a wooden cosmonaut dummy.
1 year ago, in 1961:
Explorer 10 is launched to investigate Earth's magnetic fields and nearby plasma.
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4 years ago, in 1958:
Explorer 3 is launched, and confirms the Van Allen Belts.
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1 year ago, in 1961:
After 52 hours, Explorer 10's batteries fail, as per expectations.
1 year ago, in 1961:
Explorer 10 becomes the first satellite to measure the shock wave from a solar flare.
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160 years ago, in 1802:
Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers of Germany discovers the third largest asteroid, Pallas.
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155 years ago, in 1807:
Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers of Germany discovers the second largest asteroid, Vesta.
26 years ago, in 1936:
Over 10,000 people watch the 200-inch mirror blank for the Hale Telescope passing by rail through Indianapolis.
17 years ago, in 1945:
The last day of V-1 rocket bomb attacks on England occurs, only to be soon replaced by the V-2.
It's been 3965 days
