Caroline Herschel discovers her first comet, Comet C/1786 P1 (Herschel).
This year:
The Lunar Orbiter 5 probe, the last of the Lunar Orbiter series, is launched.
2
834 years ago, in 1133:
King Henry's Eclipse occurs over England, with totality lasting for over four minutes, and coinciding with the death of King Henry I.
3
2398 years ago, in -431:
The oldest European record of a verifiable solar eclipse (annular) is given by the Greek historian Thucydides.
371 years ago, in 1596:
David Fabricius discovers the first known periodic variable star, Mira, in the constellation of Cetus.
4
5
This year:
Lunar Orbiter 5 goes into a polar orbit around the Moon.
6
6 years ago, in 1961:
Aboard Vostok 2, Gherman Titov is the second person to orbit the Earth, orbiting 17 times.
5 years ago, in 1962:
The Friendship 7 spacecraft is placed on display at the Century 21 Exhibition in Seattle, Washington.
2 years ago, in 1965:
Zond 2 passes by Mars, though no data is sent due to loss of communication.
7
8 years ago, in 1959:
Explorer 6 is launched to study micrometeorites, cosmic rays, etc; it also takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit.
6 years ago, in 1961:
Vostok 2 lands back on Earth after a day in orbit.
8
9
10
194 years ago, in 1773:
Charles Messier first observes NGC 205, also known in later years as M110.
1 year ago, in 1966:
NASA's Lunar Orbiter 1 is launched to photograph the Moon.
This year:
ATS-4 is launched by NASA to investigate the possibilities of a gravity gradient stabilization system, but fails to reach its intended orbit.
11
5 years ago, in 1962:
Vostok 3 is launched into orbit to meet up with Vostok 4; the first time that two manned spacecraft are in orbit together.
4 years ago, in 1963:
Last contact is made with Explorer 14.
12
90 years ago, in 1877:
Asaph Hall, Sr., an American astronomer, discovers the first of Mars' moons, Deimos.
7 years ago, in 1960:
Echo 1A, a metalized balloon passive-communications satellite, is launched.
5 years ago, in 1962:
Vostok 4 is launched into orbit to meet up with Vostok 3.
13
69 years ago, in 1898:
433 Eros, the first discovered and second-largest near-Earth asteroid, is discovered by the German astronomer Carl Gustav Witt at the Berlin Urania Observatory.
37 years ago, in 1930:
A meteor explodes in an air burst over the Curuca River area in Brazil.
14
170 years ago, in 1797:
Caroline Herschel and Eugene Bouvard independently discover Comet C/1797 P1 (Bouvard-Herschel).
1 year ago, in 1966:
NASA's Lunar Orbiter 1 becomes the first American craft to orbit the Moon.
15
5 years ago, in 1962:
After successful communication with each other and almost 4 days in orbit, Vostok 3 and 4 return home.
16
6 years ago, in 1961:
Explorer 12 is launched to measure the Solar Wind, Cosmic Rays, and interplanetary magnetic fields.
4 years ago, in 1963:
NASA's M2-F1 wingless aircraft prototype made its first glide flight after being towed 12,000 feet into the air by a C-47 Skytrain.
17
34 years ago, in 1933:
Under the leadership of Sergey Korolev, the Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD) launches the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket.
9 years ago, in 1958:
Able 1 (Pioneer 0) is the world's first craft intended for launch out of Earth's orbit, but explodes 77 seconds after lift-off.
1 year ago, in 1966:
Pioneer 7 is launched to obtain measurements of interplanetary phenomena.
18
99 years ago, in 1868:
French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovers an unknown element, now known as helium, in the spectrum of the sun during a total eclipse.
90 years ago, in 1877:
Asaph Hall, Sr., an American astronomer, discovers the second of Mars' moons, Phobos.
1 year ago, in 1966:
Lunar Orbiter 1 begins taking photos of the Moon.
19
9 years ago, in 1958:
Thomas Keith Glennan becomes the first Administrator of NASA.
7 years ago, in 1960:
Korabl-Sputnik 2 (Sputnik 5) is the first to return plants and animals (2 dogs; Belka and Strelka, 2 rats & 40 mice) alive from Earth orbit.
3 years ago, in 1964:
Syncom 3 is launched, becoming the first successful geostationary communication satellite.
20
82 years ago, in 1885:
Ernst Hartwig, at the Dorpat Observatory in Estonia, discovers supernova SN 1885A in Andromeda, the first Type Ia detected outside our galaxy.
3 years ago, in 1964:
The International Satellite Telecommunication Organization (Intelsat) is created in Washington, D.C.
21
10 years ago, in 1957:
A Soviet R-7 Semyorka is launched and flies 6000 km (3700 mi) to become the world's first ICBM.
2 years ago, in 1965:
Gemini V is launched; first week-long flight, completes 120 orbits.
22
4 years ago, in 1963:
U.S. Air Force Captain Joe Walker flies an X-15 space plane higher than ever flown before, at an altitude of over 67 miles (108 kilometers).
23
6 years ago, in 1961:
Ranger 1 is launched to be placed in an eliptical orbit around the Moon, but burns up in low orbit four days later.
1 year ago, in 1966:
Lunar Orbiter 1 returns the first ever image of Earth taken from the Moon.
24
9 years ago, in 1958:
Explorer 5 is launched, but fails when the rocket's first stage collides with its second stage after separation.
6 years ago, in 1961:
Last contact is made with Explorer 7.
1 year ago, in 1966:
Luna 11 is launched to the Moon.
25
102 years ago, in 1865:
The Shergotty meteorite, the first example of the shergottite Mars meteorite family, falls to Earth in Shergotty (now Sherghati) in the Gaya district, India.
6 years ago, in 1961:
Explorer 13 is launched to study the effects of micrometeoroids on the spacecraft systems, but enters a lower than planned orbit.
5 years ago, in 1962:
The Sputnik 19 (Venera 2MV-1 No.1) atmospheric probe is launched for Venus, but its escape stage fails.
3 years ago, in 1964:
Explorer 20 is launched to measure electron distribution, ion density and temperature, and to estimate cosmic noise levels.
2 years ago, in 1965:
What was supposed to have been the third Orbiting Solar Observatory, OSO-3 (OSO-C) is launched, but fails to reach orbit when the Delta rocket exploded shortly after the second stage burn.
1 year ago, in 1966:
AS-202 is successfully launched; the second flight of the Apollo spacecraft and the third test of the Saturn IB launch vehicle.
26
This year:
NASA's Crawler Transporter One is used for the first time for transport, bringing the Saturn V to the launchpad for Apollo 4.
27
194 years ago, in 1773:
Caroline Herschel independently discovers NGC 205, also known in later years as M110.
5 years ago, in 1962:
Mariner 2 is launched to Venus.
1 year ago, in 1966:
Luna 11 goes into orbit around the Moon, though its TV transmitter fails.
28
178 years ago, in 1789:
William Herschel discovers a moon of Saturn, Enceladus.
6 years ago, in 1961:
After just over two days in orbit, Explorer 13 reenters the Earth's atmosphere and burns up.
3 years ago, in 1964:
The Soviet Vostok-2M carrier rocket is launched on its maiden flight, placing Kosmos 44, a Meteor weather satellite, into orbit.
29
2 years ago, in 1965:
Gemini V lands back on Earth.
30
1 year ago, in 1966:
Lunar Orbiter 1 returns its last picture of the Moon.
31
35 years ago, in 1932:
G. G. Cillié of the United Kingdom and Donald H. Menzel of the United States use eclipse spectra to show that the Sun's corona has a higher temperature than the photosphere.
17 years ago, in 1950:
The first mouse is sent into space aboard a U.S. launched V-2, but dies when the rocket disintegrates due to parachute failure.
5 years ago, in 1962:
President Kennedy signs the Communications Satellite Act of 1962, which gives the framework for private companies in the United States to own and operate their own satellites.
2 years ago, in 1965:
NASA's Super Guppy cargo plane makes its first test flight.
It's been 3963 days
