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Yuri's Night - World Space Party





New Horizons has been in space for 6644 days. (Launch Date: Jan 19, 2006)

It's been 3181 days
since New Horizons'
closest approach
to Pluto on
July 14, 2015.


It's been 1914 days
since New Horizons'
closest approach
to 2014 MU69 on
January 1, 2019.



Questions? Comments?
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1961 Tasco 12TE


Tasco 4.5 Lunagrosso


New Horizons Message Initiative August, 2016

  September 2016  

October, 2016

     Current Date  

9th day of Spring


84 days until Summer


Sunday


Monday


Tuesday


Wednesday


Thursday


Friday


Saturday


       

 1            NEW MOON 

     212 years ago, in 1804:

Karl Ludwig Harding of Germany discovers the asteroid Juno.

     157 years ago, in 1859:

First day of the Carrington Event; one of the most powerful geomagnetic solar storms on record.

     54 years ago, in 1962:

The Sputnik 20 (Venera 2MV-1 No.2) atmospheric probe is launched for Venus, but its escape stage fails.

     37 years ago, in 1979:

Pioneer 11 makes its closest approach to Saturn, at a distance of 12,800 miles (20,591 km) from the cloud tops.

     11 years ago, in 2005:

The Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) is placed into hibernation for the second time.

       This year:

Amos-6, an Israeli Earth communications satellite, is destroyed during the run-up to a static fire test on a SpaceX Falcon 9 at Launch Complex 40.

 2

     157 years ago, in 1859:

Second day of the Carrington Event; one of the most powerful geomagnetic solar storms on record.

     46 years ago, in 1970:

Apollo 18 and 19 are cancelled due to budget cuts.

     45 years ago, in 1971:

Luna 18 (USSR) is launched to the Moon; the seventh Soviet attempt to bring back soil from the surface.

     41 years ago, in 1975:

Luna 22's (USSR) propellent is exhausted, ending its lunar orbit mission after 15 months.

     28 years ago, in 1988:

The Phobos 1 probe has a computer malfunction en route to Mars, thus ending the mission.

      1 year ago, in 2015:

On board the Soyuz TMA-18M mission to the ISS, Aidyn Aimbetov becomes the first Kazakh to visit space.

      1 year ago, in 2015:

On board the Soyuz TMA-18M mission to the ISS, Andreas Mogensen becomes the first Dane to visit space.

 3

     58 years ago, in 1958:

Explorer 4's low-power transmitter fails.

     40 years ago, in 1976:

The Viking 2 lander touches down at Utopia Planitia on Mars.

     21 years ago, in 1995:

After 72 launches and a success rate of 100%, the Soyuz-U2 orbital carrier rocket makes its last flight.

     14 years ago, in 2002:

J002E3, tentatively identified as being the S-IVB third stage of the Apollo 12 Saturn V rocket, is discovered by amateur astronomer Bill Yeung.

     10 years ago, in 2006:

After a successful three year mission, SMART-1 (Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology-1) impacts the Moon as planned.

 4

     334 years ago, in 1682:

English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes the comet that will be named after him.

     54 years ago, in 1962:

Mariner 2 performs the first rocket maneuver in deep space on its way to Venus.

     52 years ago, in 1964:

NASA launches its first Orbital Geophysical Observatory (OGO-1).

     15 years ago, in 2001:

NASA announces that they will extend the Chandra X-ray Observatory's current five year mission to ten years.

 5            WAXING CRESCENT 

     54 years ago, in 1962:

The descent module of Korabl-Sputnik 1 (Sputnik 4) re-enters Earths atmosphere.

     39 years ago, in 1977:

Voyager 1 is launched.

     8 years ago, in 2008:

The Rosetta probe flies by asteroid Steins.

     4 years ago, in 2012:

The Dawn probe leaves the orbit of the asteroid Vesta.

 6

     69 years ago, in 1947:

The U.S. Navy launches a German V-2 rocket at sea from the aircraft carrier USS Midway, where it splashes down 10 km (6 miles) away.

     50 years ago, in 1966:

Star Trek premieres on CTV in Canada.

 7

     45 years ago, in 1971:

Luna 18 (USSR) goes into orbit around the Moon.

     33 years ago, in 1983:

Landsat 3 is decommissioned.

     28 years ago, in 1988:

A software problem, combined with a sensor problem, causes the Soyuz TM-5 to spend an extra day in orbit after undocking with Mir.

     3 years ago, in 2013:

Comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) is discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy.

     3 years ago, in 2013:

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is launched on the maiden flight of the Minotaur V.

 8

     232 years ago, in 1784:

William Herschel discovers NGC 16, a lenticular galaxy located in the Pegasus constellation.

     50 years ago, in 1966:

Star Trek premieres on NBC in America.

     49 years ago, in 1967:

Surveyor 5 is launched for the Moon.

     16 years ago, in 2000:

Blue Origin, a privately funded aerospace company, is founded by Jeff Bezos.

     12 years ago, in 2004:

The Genesis spacecraft releases its solar wind sample return capsule, which lands on Earth.

       This year:

OSIRIS-Rex, a NASA asteroid study and sample return mission, is launched to asteroid 101955 Bennu.

 9            FIRST QUARTER 

     124 years ago, in 1892:

Edward Barnard discovers the fifth moon of Jupiter, Amalthea, using the Lick 36-inch refractor.

     41 years ago, in 1975:

Viking 2 is launched to Mars.

     38 years ago, in 1978:

The Venera 11 probe is launched for Venus.

     34 years ago, in 1982:

Conestoga I is launched by Space Services Inc. to an altitude of 192 miles (309 km), becoming the first privately owned and operated rocket to reach space.

     10 years ago, in 2006:

The shuttle Atlantis (STS-115) is launched with the second port-side truss segment (P3/P4) and a pair of solar arrays (2A/4A) for the ISS.

     9 years ago, in 2007:

The Cassini probe makes a flyby of one of Saturn's moons, Iapetus, and discovers one hemisphere is black and the other white.

 10

     232 years ago, in 1784:

William Herschel discovers NGC 23, a spiral galaxy in the Pegasus constellation.

     158 years ago, in 1858:

George Mary Searle, an American astronomer and Catholic priest, discovers asteroid 55 Pandora.

     11 years ago, in 2005:

At the Keck Observatory, Mike Brown and his team discover Dysnomia, a moon of the dwarf planet Eris.

     5 years ago, in 2011:

The Delta II 7000H makes its last flight, launching the twin GRAIL probes to create a detailed gravity map of the Moon.

 11

     49 years ago, in 1967:

Surveyor 5 lands, and is the first craft to do a soil analysis on the Moon, or any other world beyond Earth.

     45 years ago, in 1971:

Luna 18 (USSR) crashes into the Moon and contact is lost.

     31 years ago, in 1985:

International Cometary Explorer (ICE, formerly ISEE-3) is the first craft to traverse the plasma tail of a comet (Giacobini-Zinner).

     19 years ago, in 1997:

Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars and goes into orbit.

     17 years ago, in 1999:

101955 Bennu, an Apollo group asteroid, is discovered by the LINEAR Project.

     7 years ago, in 2009:

Discovery (STS-128) makes the last shuttle landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

 12

     57 years ago, in 1959:

Luna 2 is launched to the Moon.

     54 years ago, in 1962:

The Sputnik 21 (Venera 2MV-2 No.1) probe is launched for Venus, but its third stage explodes.

     50 years ago, in 1966:

Gemini XI is launched; reaches record altitude of 739 miles, completes 44 orbits.

     46 years ago, in 1970:

Luna 16 (USSR) is launched to the Moon; the third Soviet attempt to bring back soil from the surface.

     24 years ago, in 1992:

Aboard shuttle Endeavour (STS-47), Mae Jemison becomes the first African-American woman to fly in space.

     24 years ago, in 1992:

Jan Davis and Mark Lee are the first married couple in space together, launching aboard the shuttle Endeavour (STS-47).

     11 years ago, in 2005:

The Yohkoh (Solar-A) Solar Observatory burns up during reentry over South Asia.

 13            WAXING GIBBOUS 

     39 years ago, in 1977:

The shuttle Enterprise makes its second Approach and Landing Test (ALT-13) after being releasd from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

     25 years ago, in 1991:

The Yohkoh (Solar-A) Solar Observatory takes its first picture of the Sun.

     9 years ago, in 2007:

Japan launches its second lunar orbiter, SELENE (Kaguya).

     9 years ago, in 2007:

The Google Lunar XPRIZE is announced during NextFest.

 14

     57 years ago, in 1959:

Luna 2 is the first craft to impact into the Moon.

     45 years ago, in 1971:

Controllers have the last communication with the Lunokhod 1 moon rover.

     42 years ago, in 1974:

Charles Kowal discovers one of Jupiter's moons, Leda.

     38 years ago, in 1978:

The Venera 12 probe is launched for Venus.

     15 years ago, in 2001:

Pirs, a Russian docking and airlock module for the ISS, is launched aboard a Soyuz-U/Progress M-SO1.

     3 years ago, in 2013:

Japan launches Hisaki (SPRINT-A), an ultraviolet astronomy satellite, aboard the maiden flight of a four-stage Epsilon rocket.

      1 year ago, in 2015:

The first observation of gravitational waves are made by the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors.

 15

     50 years ago, in 1966:

Gemini XI lands back on Earth.

     48 years ago, in 1968:

Zond 5 is launched to circle the Moon and return to Earth; on board are 2 tortoises, flies, worms, plants, and other life.

     26 years ago, in 1990:

The Magellan spacecraft begins its primary mission at Venus; mapping the surface with radar.

     5 years ago, in 2011:

The Cassini probe captures five of Saturn's moons in one picture: Janus, Pandora, Enceladus, Mimas and Rhea.

     5 years ago, in 2011:

The Kepler space telescope discovers the first planet around a double-star system, Kepler-16b.

       This year:

China launches the Tiangong-2 space laboratory as a test platform for the planned large modular space station.

 16            FULL MOON 

     168 years ago, in 1848:

William Bond, his son George, and William Lassell co-discover one of Saturn's moons, Hyperion.

     67 years ago, in 1949:

Aboard a US-launched V-2, Albert III, a long-tailed macaque, dies when the rocket explodes ten seconds after launch.

     20 years ago, in 1996:

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-79) is the first shuttle mission to dock at the fully assembled Mir Space Station.

 17

     227 years ago, in 1789:

William Herschel discovers a moon of Saturn, Mimas.

     46 years ago, in 1970:

Luna 16 (USSR) goes into orbit around the Moon.

     40 years ago, in 1976:

The shuttle Enterprise is rolled out for a dedication ceremony with most of the original Star Trek cast on hand.

 18

     230 years ago, in 1786:

William Herschel discovers NGC 14, an irregular galaxy in the Pegasus constellation.

     52 years ago, in 1964:

AS-102 (SA-7), is successfully launched, carrying the second 'boilerplate' version of the Apollo spacecraft.

     51 years ago, in 1965:

Comet Ikeya–Seki (C/1965 S1, Great Comet of 1965) is discovered independently by Kaoru Ikeya and Tsutomu Seki.

     48 years ago, in 1968:

Zond 5 circles the Moon and heads back to Earth.

     39 years ago, in 1977:

Voyager 1 returns the first spacecraft photo of Earth and the Moon.

     36 years ago, in 1980:

On board the Soyuz 38 mission to Salyut 6, Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez becomes the first Cuban, the first person of African heritage, and the first Latin American to visit space.

     10 years ago, in 2006:

Supernova SN 2006gy is discovered in the galaxy NGC 1260.

     10 years ago, in 2006:

On board the Soyuz TMA-9 mission to the ISS, Anousheh Ansari becomes the first Iranian and the first female space tourist to visit space.

     10 years ago, in 2006:

The Large Binocular Telescope's (LBT) secondary mirror sees first light.

     3 years ago, in 2013:

Orbital Sciences' Cygnus resupply ship demonstration mission is successfully launched to the ISS.

 19

     48 years ago, in 1968:

The first of the Intelsat III series of satellites, Intelsat III-1, is launched, but is destroyed by range safety after a gyroscope failure.

     28 years ago, in 1988:

The first Israli satellite, Ofeq (Ofek) 1, is successfully launched.

      1 year ago, in 2015:

The Long March 6 makes a successful maiden flight.

 20            WANING GIBBOUS 

     50 years ago, in 1966:

Surveyor 2 is launched for the Moon.

     46 years ago, in 1970:

Luna 16 (USSR) lands on the Moon's surface and successfully collects a soil sample.

     37 years ago, in 1979:

HEAO-3 (High Energy Astronomy Observatory 3) is lauched, carrying a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer and two cosmic-ray instruments.

 21

     46 years ago, in 1970:

Luna 16 's upper stage lifts off from the Moon, and heads to Earth with its soil sample.

     42 years ago, in 1974:

Mariner 10 makes its second Mercury flyby.

     13 years ago, in 2003:

The Galileo spacecraft ends its mission and is sent into Jupiter, where it is crushed by atmospheric pressure.

     4 years ago, in 2012:

The retired shuttle Endeavour is flown atop a 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to Los Angeles International Airport.

     4 years ago, in 2012:

Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) is discovered by Vitaly Nevsky and Artyom Novichonok using the 0.4-meter reflector of the International Scientific Optical Network near Kislovodsk, Russia.

 22

     48 years ago, in 1968:

The Zond 5 reentry capsule lands on Earth; becoming the first spacecraft to circle the Moon and return to Earth, and all its cargo survives.

     15 years ago, in 2001:

Deep Space 1 flies by Comet Borrelly.

     12 years ago, in 2004:

Salacia, a trans-Neptunian object, is discovered by Henry Roe, Michael Brown and Kristina Barkume.

     10 years ago, in 2006:

Japan launches Hinode (Solar-B), a Solar Observatory spacecraft.

     2 years ago, in 2014:

The MAVEN probe goes into orbit around Mars.

 23            LAST QUARTER 

     170 years ago, in 1846:

Johann Galle discovers the planet Neptune, based on calculations by Urbain Le Verrier.

     58 years ago, in 1958:

Intended for a lunar impact, the Soviets launch Luna E-1 No.1 (Luna 1958A), but the rocket disintegrates 92 seconds after launch.

     50 years ago, in 1966:

Surveyor 2 loses control due to a malfunctioning thruster and crashes into the Moon.

     39 years ago, in 1977:

The shuttle Enterprise makes its third Approach and Landing Test (ALT-14) after being releasd from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

     7 years ago, in 2009:

The first Swiss satellite, SwissCube-1, is successfully launched.

 24

     46 years ago, in 1970:

Luna 16 successfully returns the capsule with the lunar soil sample to Earth.

     8 years ago, in 2008:

The ESO (European Southern Observatory) announces the first optically active magnetar-candidate yet discovered, SWIFT J195509+261406, using the ESO's Very Large Telescope.

     2 years ago, in 2014:

Using the data from three of NASA's space telescopes; Hubble, Spitzer and Kepler, astronomers discover clear skies and steamy water vapor on exoplanet HAT-P-11b.

     2 years ago, in 2014:

India's Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan, is successfully inserted into orbit around Mars.

 25

     56 years ago, in 1960:

Pioneer P-30 (Atlas-Able 5A, Pioneer Y) is launched for a lunar orbit, but the mission fails due to a second stage malfunction.

     43 years ago, in 1973:

After 59 and a half days in orbit, the crew of Skylab 3 return to Earth.

     24 years ago, in 1992:

The Mars Observer is launched from Cape Canaveral.

      1 year ago, in 2015:

The Long March 11 makes a successful maiden flight.

       This year:

The first test firing on a ground test stand for the SpaceX Raptor engine for the BFR takes place.

 26

     23 years ago, in 1993:

The first Portuguese satellite, PoSAT-1, is successfully launched.

     18 years ago, in 1998:

25143 Itokawa, classified as near-Earth object and a potentially hazardous asteroid, is discovered by the LINEAR project.

     16 years ago, in 2000:

TiungSAT-1, the first Malaysian microsatellite, is successfully launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

     9 years ago, in 2007:

Deep Impact's orbit is adjusted toward Comet Hartley 2.

 27            WANING CRESCENT 

     49 years ago, in 1967:

Soyuz 7K-L1 No.4L (Zond 1967A) is launched to perform a circumlunar flyby, but fails to achieve Earth orbit.

     43 years ago, in 1973:

Soyuz 12, a manned test flight of the newly redesigned 2-person Soyuz 7K-T (in wake of the Soyuz 11 tragedy), is launched.

     19 years ago, in 1997:

Mars Pathfinder/Sojourner sends its last data transmission.

     13 years ago, in 2003:

SMART-1 (Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology-1), is launched by the ESA to orbit the Moon.

     9 years ago, in 2007:

NASA's solar powered ion engined Dawn spacecraft is launched to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres.

     8 years ago, in 2008:

China becomes the third country to independently carry out an EVA during the Shenzhou 7 mission by Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang.

     6 years ago, in 2010:

Cassini begins the Solstice Mission extension.

 28

     65 years ago, in 1951:

Seth Barnes Nicholson discovers on of Jupiter's moons, Ananke.

     54 years ago, in 1962:

Alouette I makes Canada the third nation to build and the fourth nation to launch a satellite (and still orbiting).

     47 years ago, in 1969:

The Murchison meteorite, a carbonaceous chondrite, falls to Earth near the town of Murchison, Victoria, in Australia.

     45 years ago, in 1971:

Luna 19 (USSR) is launched to the Moon.

     8 years ago, in 2008:

SpaceX's fifth launch of Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid fueled rocket to reach Earth orbit.

      1 year ago, in 2015:

India launches their first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, Astrosat.

 29

     132 years ago, in 1884:

243 Ida, a minor planet in the inner asteroid belt, is discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at the Vienna Observatory.

     45 years ago, in 1971:

The seventh Orbiting Solar Observatory, OSO-7 (OSO-H) is launched successfully to investigate the Sun in the UV spectrum.

     43 years ago, in 1973:

Soyuz 12 lands on Earth after a successful mission.

     39 years ago, in 1977:

The Salyut 6 space station is launched.

     28 years ago, in 1988:

The shuttle Discovery (STS-26R) lifts off, the first shuttle flight since the Challenger disaster.

     12 years ago, in 2004:

Asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within 932,000 miles (1.5 million km) of Earth.

     12 years ago, in 2004:

The Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne makes its first flight for the Ansari X PRIZE.

     7 years ago, in 2009:

Messenger makes its third Mercury flyby.

     5 years ago, in 2011:

China launches its first prototype space station, Tiangong-1, with a Long March 2F/G rocket.

     3 years ago, in 2013:

Orbital Sciences' Cygnus resupply ship demonstration mission is docked with the ISS.

     3 years ago, in 2013:

SpaceX's Falcon 9 v1.1 launches from Vandenberg AFB on its maiden flight, successfully releasing the Canadian satellite CASSIOPE.

     3 years ago, in 2013:

2013 SY99, a trans-Neptunian object, is discovered by the Outer Solar System Origins Survey using the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory.

 30

     136 years ago, in 1880:

Using an 11 inch Clark Brothers photographic refractor, Henry Draper is the first person to photograph the Orion Nebula.

     21 years ago, in 1995:

NASA terminates routine contact with Pioneer 11.

     6 years ago, in 2010:

The Russian (previously Soviet) Molniya-M carrier rocket makes its final flight.

       This year:

The Rosetta probe ends its mission by landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.